Historic building secured as home of Magdalena Co-op

The historic building that once housed the Salome General store, which supplied ranchers and miners with a variety of goods at the turn of the century in Magdalena, is being brought back to life.

The Magdalena food co-op announced last week that they had secured the historic building, more recently known as the NDN Mercantile, for its new storefront.

“I think for the co-op’s success, it’s a wonderful location,” Laurie Ware, MFC president, said.

She said the location’s historical significance, event space, parking and visibility on Highway 60 are ideal for their vision.

“It makes everything real,” Osiris Navarro, MFC secretary, said, “It’s one of the older buildings on Highway 60 and still has a solid exterior and foundation. Securing the building is a big step because it means we get to draft out the lease and start renovations and visualizing the layout, inventory, etc.”

With a storefront secured, they are moving on to phase one of the renovations, which includes $11,000 for fixing water damage on the floor, replacing the flooring and other work.

The food co-op’s goals are to give Magdalena and surrounding rural areas access to fresh produce and meat. Ware said the vendor list includes local and regional products.

Navarro said having access to healthy and affordable produce, meat, dairy, and dry goods is essential to a community and its health and preservation of culture.

“So many communities in rural areas are ravaged by disease such as diabetes, which in result becomes generational because folks do not have access, the education or resources to homemade nutritious food. Choosing the easier option of processed frozen foods is often out of necessity and what is there,” Navarro said.

The difference between a regular grocery store and a food co-op is that the former is owned by the community. Instead of focusing on investors, food co-ops focus on the needs of their community.

“I believe in the co-op model because it’s based on the community and what the community needs,” Ware said, “We are filling a need and I think by the community owning it, to me, that’s the sustenance of it with community ownership and buy in. Then that will guide the direction that it goes in. We started this by doing a survey of the top 50 items that community members purchase. So we build our initial inventory from those surveys.”

She said they are also committed to being affordable and accessible. They will accept EBT cards and offer educational programs such as cooking and food budgeting workshops.

“The community has expressed that it’d be affordable,” Ware said, “so everyone can walk in and buy their groceries. That’s what we want. It’s not worth it if you can’t get groceries locally.”

With accessibility in mind, future plans include having a delivery vehicle and driver that can take orders to people who are homebound or unable to make the trip to town.

Although a co-op membership is encouraged, the grocery store is open for everyone.

“It will take a lot of community support to sustain this business. For the co-op to grow and thrive we will need the population of Magdalena and surrounding areas to choose the co-op as their primary source and place to get groceries, as oppose to choosing other options from big box retailers in Socorro,” Navarro said.

In October, MFC will have a membership drive and Gala at the Charles Ilfeld Building on Main Street, in Magdalena. The co-op’s next step is to hire a general manager early next year. The goal is to open its doors in August 2025.

To learn more please visit: www.magdalenafood.coop