We all work a little and get a lot

We are a Brooklyn food co-op serving the communities of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and beyond. As a 100 percent working co-op, our members enjoy prices on foods and household goods that are significantly lower and more carefully sourced than some for-profit grocery stores. Only our member-owners can shop, but anyone can become a member today!

Work a little. Get a lot.

We support local, fair-trade, seasonal and ethical suppliers.

We are one of the only 100 percent working co-ops in the country, which means our members foster a sense of community by working alongside each other to operate and design the store, purchase our products, stock the shelves, run the cash registers, pay our bills, help with office tasks and more.

We’re a democratic organization so every member-owner has a voice in the Co-op and its operations. We work to have a positive impact on the community, and we strive to reflect the diversity around us by making sure the Co-op is accessible to all. We use transparent and socially responsible buying and selling practices so we can continue to develop the Co-op as an ethical entity.

Our principles were voted on by Greene Hill members at a general meeting:

• Cooperative & Democratic: All are welcome to join our member-owned cooperative, where everyone has a voice and role in the decision-making of our business. We listen, learn, and grow from member-owner contribution.

• Accountable to Anti-Racist Principles and Promoting Equity: We ground our collective decision-making, policies, and actions in anti-racist principles of accountability, transparency, and power-sharing. We are committed to combating oppression in all operations of the store.

• Ethical Sourcing: We strive to offer a range of staples and specialty items, seeking out Fair Trade, organic, and sustainable products. We prioritize and highlight products from other co-operatives and from businesses that are local, and/or owned by women, Black people, and people of color.

• Rooted in Community: We work to operate a store whose membership reflects and celebrates the racial and socioeconomic diversity of our Brooklyn neighborhoods and that participates in the life of our community. We also recognize that we are located on the unceded lands of the Munsee Lenape and Canarsie peoples and aim to honor their continued legacy through care for the land and its resources.

• Accessibility: We work to understand and remedy economic, physical, cultural and other barriers of access to the Co-op. We strive to keep prices as close as possible to wholesale so products are affordable to all.

Our Food Co-op

A 100% working food co-op isn’t just a grocery store—it’s a consumer-owned, cooperative business. This means that each member-owner has an equal voice in how the business is run and managed. Unlike conventional grocery stores, our co-op isn’t out to turn a profit for the benefit of absentee stockholders. We aim to provide maximum value for all of our shareholders: our member-owners who are invested in the Co-op.

Greene Hill Food Co-op is unique in that we are one of the few 100% working food co-ops in the USA. (There are several in other countries.) This means that every member-owner shops, and in return contributes two and a half hours minimum every four weeks to keep the store stocked and running; or participates in one of our committees; and can attend General Meetings, held three times a year.

Member-owner labor keeps prices affordable, and allows us to be actively engaged with our community and the farmers and vendors with whom we do business. Any profits are reinvested back into the store.

Our member-owners who live in Clinton Hill, Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and beyond have invested in Greene Hill Food Co-op. More New Yorkers are joining every day!

“All members make a one-time investment in our 100% working food co-op. Currently hundreds of individuals are member-owners of Greene Hill Food Co-op”

— DK Holland, member-owner and co-founder.

Ben Werner

Ben originally hails from Minneapolis, Minnesota and now lives in Clinton Hill. He moved to New York to attend the Pratt Institute, where he is completing a Masters of Urban and
Community Planning.

Prior to moving to Brooklyn, Ben created and directed the Housing Justice Program at a
community based organization, East Side Freedom Library. He is one of the founding members of the East Side Real Estate Investment Cooperative in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He joined the Greene Hill Co-op in 2022 with a passion for community, food and cooperation!

Ben also loves to cook, go bicycle and motorcycle riding, work on aquascaping, and spend time with his daughter and fiancée.

Phoebe Clement

Phoebe, proudly raised in Buffalo, New York, now lives in Bed-Stuy Brooklyn. Inspired by food justice and accessibility, she is excited to continue her experience in food sourcing and retail in a cooperative model. Phoebe began her work at a specialty market in Los Angeles, California, learning about the local food system and sustainable farming practices. Phoebe is driven by a grocery store's ability to bring people together over what's in their basket. 

When not at the Co-op you can find her playing pick-up soccer, at the movies, or making dinner for her friends. 

Jordan Rosenberg

Jordan moved to New York City in August from Philadelphia, where he worked at Riverwards Produce, a grocer specializing in local produce, for three years. He started there as the produce manager and gained experience in cashiering, scheduling, floor managing, purchasing, event planning and much else, and was eventually promoted to Front-of-House Manager. When Jordan’s not at the Co-op you can find him playing in Magic the Gathering events or organizing Dungeons and Dragons at local game stores around the city.

Our Food Co-op

In late 2007, residents planted the seeds of a neighborhood food cooperative in an article in The Brooklyn Paper entitled “A Food Co-op of Their Own?”

The community response was immediate and enthusiastic. With a neighborhood lacking in quality grocery stores and so many Fort Greene and Clinton Hill-based members of the Park Slope Food Coop eager to shop closer to home, the idea quickly gained followers.

PSFC quickly became instrumental in helping our co-op to open. They shared information, guidance and gave their members credit for working on the formation of what would become Greene Hill. 

In 2008, we had no members, no funds. Our first Outreach committee  canvassed low income neighborhoods to see if there was interest in a co-op. The results were encouraging. Individuals from the community volunteered to help develop the Co-op’s name and brand identity. And so the Co-op’s identity started to take shape. Other committees formed included Governance which developed bylaws and the Lease Location Committee searched for logical locations. Merchandising started looking at what we might carry. We studied grocery stores that would be of similar size to understand what was required to open a store but locations tended to to be too small or too expensive.

The owners of a former Laundromat at 18 Putnam Avenue offered us enough space to provide a good home for the Greene Hill Food Co-op at a very reasonable rent.

With the bylaws approved and  the Co-op’s incorporation in place as a not for profit grocery store and with the membership now numbering 70, Greene Hill was able to be in business. A 5/5 year lease was signed with an option to buy the property.

Like most food cooperatives, Greene Hill started as a buying club. In 2011 a group of early members met weekly to place orders. Members would collect the food and put in boxes. Members pre paid and picked up their food at the store.

Being able to start selling products as a buying club helped us prove our store would work and started to build a solid community. 

By June 2011, the membership voted to suspend the buying club in order to renovate the store for a grand opening. We had raised $100,000. The official opening date of the Greene Hill Food Co-op was December 17th, 2011 with a membership of 300.

In 2015, 1300 members strong, Greene Hill Food Co-op continued to pave an unprecedented path implementing a trial membership program, which gained immediate traction with over 50 individuals signing up within the first two weeks of its launch. 

1083 Fulton St. Brooklyn, NY 11238
(between Classon & Claver Pl.)

Subway: C/S train to Franklin Ave. & G train to Classon
Buses: B25, B26, B48, & B52

Accessibility: there is a one-step entrance into the building. The Co-op keeps a portable ramp near the front door and our members are happy to assist anyone who needs assistance entering the building.

Phone: (718) 208-4778

Store Hours

Monday–Friday: 1pm–9pm*
Saturday & Sunday: 10am–6pm

Monday: 1pm–3pm is reserved for seniors and at-risk populations

We will be closed on the following days:

• Labor Day: Monday, September 2nd, 2024

• Inventory: Monday, September 30th, 2024 (closed for shopping; scheduled staff and member-owners still working in store)

• Thanksgiving Day: Thursday, November 28th, 2024

• Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25th, 2024

• New Year's Day: Monday, January 1st, 2024

• Martin Luther King Day: Monday, January 20th, 2025

We will close early at 7pm on the following days:

• Thursday, July 4th, 2024

• Wednesday, November 27th, 2024 (day before Thanksgiving)

• Tuesday, December 24th, 2024 (Christmas Eve)

• Tuesday, December 31st, 2024 (New Year’s Eve)

Schedule/Shift Changes:

• Memorial Day: Monday, May 27th, 2024. Open on weekend schedule from 10am to 6pm.

For the store hours and location, please go to the visit us page.