River Valley Co-op operates two stores in Western Massachusetts, one in Northampton and one in Easthampton. Fresh local and organically grown food is our community-owned grocery stores’ specialty. Both stores are open daily to the public and offer an abundance of fresh delicious locally produced foods. We specialize in foods that are natural, organically grown and fair trade certified. The co-op’s
product selection includes fresh produce, meat & seafood, cheese & dairy bakery and deli along with grocery, frozen, and bulk foods. Hundreds of co-op basic pantry staples are offered at low everyday prices, along with great weekly specials for customer savings. River Valley Co-op has a broad diversity in its selection to meet a diversity of our communities everyday grocery needs. This food co-op got its start April 30, 2008 in Northampton after nine years of grass roots community organizing with a mission to support local food production and a thriving locally based economy through its retail food operations. On July 1st, 2021, after seven years of planning and preparations, the co-op opened a store in Easthampton as well, greatly increasing its service capacity and positive community impacts. The Northampton store was built into a long abandoned rock quarry carved from the stone hillside between 1870-1921. The quarry operations left the site with a flat plateau surrounded by cliffs rising on three sides, providing a beautiful natural setting for our community food store. This store was constructed with many green building features from its 36kw of solar power generating photo voltaic panels on the roof to its energy efficient lighting and low VOC building materials. The Easthampton store also has a beautiful natural setting adjacent to farmland and a wetlands meadow with views of Mt. This store has a solar power generating parking lot canopy as well as rooftop photo voltaic array that generates 928kw of power annually which offsets all the power used to operate the Easthampton store…that is net zero! This is the only net zero grocery we know of in the US with on-site generated solar power. Heating and cooling the store uses air sourced heat pumps. The only fossil fuels used to operate the store is propane for the prepared foods cooking operations and emergency generator. Like the Northampton store energy efficiency lighting is utilized throughout the building and low and no VOC building materials were used in the construction of the facility.
