A new business with a different flavour

On Nov 29, the day of the Ste Anne de Bellevue Christmas Parade, the Grand Orme Cooperative, an eco-friendly general store with several equal partners and potential members, will open its doors to Ste Anne village at large.

The two who spearheaded the project, Veronique Vendette and Valerie Sabbagh, got the idea from Montreal’s first ecological coop, The Green House in NDG. Established in 2000, the general store offering fair trade coffee, clothing, food, office products, and some renovation and gardening products, has seen its fair share of success with its 7000 members and community calendar offering a wide variety of activities to raise environmental awareness.

While The Green House celebrates is in its eighth year, Vendette hopes the popular environmental wave will catch on in the college community. “I think people have an interest to live more environmental…we need to differentiate between what is called green and what really is a sustainable way of living,” said Vendette. “Our main focus is to show it’s possible to have a green lifestyle.”

Preparations for the grand opening are already well underway as the seven partners are working tirelessly to get the store ready; they have completely renovated a tiny home dating back over 175 years with eco-friendly products. “It’s a great location. We’re in a vibrant community, people that live here, stay here,” said Vendette. “Everything is within walking distance so people don’t have to drive to get to us.”

The Grand Orme Coop is located at 99 Ste Anne Street. On opening day they will be giving away fair trade coffee and hot chocolate. Bringing your own mug is encouraged.