February 03, 2025
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Food Shed co-op grocery store set to open May 15 in Woodstock, a McHenry County first

Took years of planning, fundraising to get to this point

By Michelle Meyer
The Food Shed, located at 10806 Route 14, Woodstock, plans on opening this spring and staff plans on announcing an exact opening date within the next two weeks, Food Shed Co-Op general manager Peter Waldmann said.

The Food Shed, located at 10806 Route 14, Woodstock, plans on opening this spring and staff plans on announcing an exact opening date within the next two weeks, Food Shed Co-Op general manager Peter Waldmann said. (Michelle Meyer)

After over nine years of fundraising and planning, McHenry County’s first co-op grocery store will open May 15 in Woodstock.

The Food Shed Co-Op is a community-owned and -controlled grocery store located at 2390 Lake Shore Drive, near the border of Crystal Lake. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held at 9 a.m. May 15 with giveaways and sales, according to a news release.

“The co-op is committed to offering shoppers access to affordable quality foods and teaching people about the foods they eat,” Food Shed community outreach director Sue Jensen said in the release.

Construction of the 9,000-square-foot store started in July, and it cost about $5.8 million to build, general manager Peter Waldmann said.

The grocery store will have a kitchen where staff will freshly prepare grab-and-go meals, soups and juices. About 100 recipes will be made, which were all created through a collaboration with the Duke’s Inferno and Duke’s Alehouse and Kitchen restaurants in Woodstock and Crystal Lake, respectively.

Other features include locally sourced organic food, no processed ingredients in any of their items, a community room, and bulk food to minimize packaging. Frozen, dairy, meat, cheese, bakery, bulk, wine, beer, and vegan and gluten-free options are all categories the store will sell from local growers and producers, according to the release.

The McHenry County Food Cooperative started in 2014 and now has more than 2,100 co-op owners, Jensen said. Anyone can apply to be an owner by buying at least two shares at $100 each.

A co-op means that it’s run by community members, but anyone in the public can shop there, Jensen said. The goal of the co-op is to keep food and dollars local in McHenry County.

“We want to deliver on our commitment to the community,” Waldmann said. “This is their grocery store, and no one can ever take that away from them.”

The Food Shed will be open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, according to the release.

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