Daily Groceries Co-Op

Was visiting Athens for a couple days and was so excited to find this little gem. I picked up the tempeh Reuben as another Unilocaler highly recommended it and it was awesome. Glad I was able to pop in during my short stay.

i have been shopping here for years. no, it’s not especially cheap, but they carry a great variety of items and have several things you can’t get elsewhere in town. they update their stock often and are always bringing in new items. they seem to listen to customers. the staff is generally friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, and if they don’t know the answer, they find someone who will. produce selection can be a little unreliable, but they almost always have something unexpected and interesting, which to me makes up for it if they’re out of bananas that day or something. reasonable bulk prices and great item selections. in the past few months i’ve noticed the deli items slipping a bit to the point where i just don’t buy them, but that’s not really a problem for me. sometimes i don’t mind paying a few cents extra for items here if it means i don’t have to deal with navigating a huge grocery store. thanks daily! i hope you stick around for years to come!

An incredible store, chocked full of goodies. Wonderful selection of bulk item beans, spices, and grains. Fresh-​baked bread and prepared sandwiches were also great. The cash register, for such a small store, was extremely efficient. I found The prices to be equivalent or sometimes less than what I spend at Publix or whole foods. Fun to find some rare items to try cooking less. For example, Tumeric root.

How funny to read my review from 2008 and see the words «I often forget it’s there!» I go to Daily probably 8 times a week. This is not an exaggeration. It’s two doors down from my bookshop and I depend on them for my daily survival. Great selection, good service, and a really responsive store buyer who will listen to you when you say what brands and products you do and don’t like.

I’ve become less pleased with the Co-​op in the past year. It used to be that you could take your used bags there. They would use them again to bag groceries. Now I am told to take my bags to Kroger. The Co-​op uses new bags with their logo printed on them. What is the point of that, other than to be like every other grocery store? This is just one example among many of a slow slide into mainstream mediocrity.

Daily is a good place to get bulk items and local veggies. Selection on veggies is hit or miss depending on what they get locally that week. Bulk/​veg prices are reasonable but some packaged goods can be pretty steep. The cashiers are always very friendly and helpful though they sometimes have a lot of staff turnover. They don’t offer member/​volunteer discounts anymore which is a drawback. The new layout has a great flow and is easier to maneuver around. They don’t have an extensive selection like Earth Fare but are always willing to special order. It’s nice they have added a beer and wine selection too!

Perfect spot to find some veggie & vegan noms. I really adore their Sumi salad and their «TLT» or Tofurky lettuce tomato sandwich. Whoa, still reservations on Tofurky stuff, but the sliced «meats» aren’t half-​bad, though I wouldn’t make them a staple. We’ll see if I come around. Hehe. =P
Daily Co-​op carries a lot of your hard to find health items, something of a condensed Earth Fare or Whole Foods. They have a reasonable sized produce section stocked full of fresh local produce. The rest of the aisles are various breads, snacks, soups, chocolates, and skincare/​toothpaste products of the healthy persuasion. I think there might be a few raw vegan items in the mix too, and they also have a few coconut water, healthy tea, and kombucha choices.
Oh yeah, they also have locally crafted tofu in their fridges! I try to lay off tofu as much as I can, but if I’m looking for some I’d definitely give them a try. Their sign for the tofu is also pretty adorable.
The price can be a little on the high end, as with any stores tagged with health, but if you’re a member, I believe, you can get a nice discount.

Such friendly service and a great place to get local produce! They make a great effort to source things locally when possible, and I appreciate their selection even thought they have limited space.

I can’t believe I didn’t know this place had food to go after living her for 15 years! The vegan tempeh reuben has changed my life — I literally get it once a week (if they have it in stock — and they sometimes don’t so be prepared to leave with sadface). I also like the vegan Banh Mi subs. YUM.

This is a great, little «crunchy granola» grocery store. I had a great salad from there for dinner tonight, along with kombucha. Great selection of bulk foods too!

I appreciate other reviewer’s enthusiasm for this place, but I only agree with Cody. I believe in co-​ops, but I don’t believe they need to be as sad as daily groceries.
I could be wrong about this, but I’m pretty sure they have very FEW local products compared to other co-​ops I’ve had the pleasure of living near. On a good day, there will be local greens, bread, eggs and that’s about it.
The staff is not very knowledgeable, but this is understandable because they are mostly volunteers. As such, they are mostly clueless.
The bulk section is good, but compared to other co-​ops, is pretty small. The selection for other groceries is OK for being such a small place, but some essentials are missing (for instance, no bulk plain green tea, no sriracha? no chili paste? no meat of any kind?) but the bottom line is you will pay the price for ideology. One only needs to look at co-​ops like Bloomingfoods in Bloomington, IN, or the Willy st. Co-​op in Madison, or Weaver Street Market in Carrboro (Chapel Hill) to see that a college town can support fantastic co-​ops. By comparison, daily groceries is a glorified failure. I assume the other reviewers here have never seen another co-​op.
The only good thing about it is location since there isn’t another place on Prince Ave except for Mexican groceries.
The straw that broke the camel’s back recently seems like an apt metaphor for the entire store. I was biking to work one day when I noticed that my front tire was a little flat. I remembered that Daily had a bike pump attached to their bike rack (plastered with the requisite local stickers selection.) I stop to use it and while attempting to attach the pump to those fidgity presta valves, half my tire deflates (normal). Unfortunately, the pump didn’t work at all. The point of my story is this: Although the philosophy of this place is ideologically laudable, you’ll pay the price due to a lack of vision, management or diligence. The price for using their free bike pump? A flat tire.

I pick up a sandwich just about every Saturday and they are always fresh and delicious!

Wish I could give 3.5 stars– I really like this place. They always have lots of local produce, excellent bulk bins, and lots of vegan items. I’ve never had any of their sandwiches or other pre-​made foods, but they look good.
My only issue is that some of the prices are down right exorbitant. E.g., a ½ gallon of some non-​dairy milk might be $ 2.99 at Kroger, $ 3.49 at Earth Fare, and then the very same brand is $ 5.29 at Daily. That’s 150% the price of Earth Fare, which is already expensive on its own. I’m sorry, I’ll buy some things from here, and the folks are nice, but until I land a six figure salary, I won’t be able to make this my exclusive grocery store.
Even if you volunteered 4 hours a week and got the 20% off, the prices are still considerably higher than Earth Fare (which again, is already more expensive than a regular grocery store on items that both stores carry) on many items. The aforementioned non-​dairy milk would still be $ 4.23 after your 20% discount.
I understand that local, small places will necessarily have a slightly higher prices, but they need to understand that I ain’t made of money :) That said, still nice folks and good selection of items.

Wowzas, this place is great. They’ve got a great selection for such a small store, and the staff is really friendly and knowledgeable. Great bulk foods aisle which I love.
I went in today for a sandwich (they have a great pre-​made refrigerator with delicious take-​away items) and one woman was especially eager to tell me about their options. They had a good bit to choose from– a «hammie» sammie, hummus and tofurkey, veggie salad, etc., but I settled on the one she recommended most: the tempeh reuben.
Truly, it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had. It was also completely vegan, which was cool. Definitely affordable and 100% delicious.

If I lived in Athens, this is where I’d buy just about all my groceries. Or at least I’d try to.
What a cute little shop! And they really pack it full of goodies, so you can find just about anything. Lots of vegan/​vegetarian offerings, fresh & local produce. I toted home some vegetarian gummy bears (hard to find), as well as vegan marshmallows, a bit of candied ginger, a new scour sponge made from loofah, and some other small goods (anything that would fit in my carry-​on). The people working there are friendly, maybe a bit spacey. But definitely friendly. And the prices are pretty good, especially on the bulk items.
I would go back again and again… If I didn’t live literally across the country. Maybe the next time I’m in Athens. Go visit the Co-​Op!

I so miss living on Child’s Street and riding my bike up to Daily to grab a sammy, a salad, and a drink.
I love their freshly ground peanut butter. Yum! So tasty.
They have a great, small selection of locally grown fruits and vegetables. And their employees are friendly and helpful.
Daily — You make my heart happy.

It may look small, but you’ll find everything you need at Daily Co-​op. Friendly staff and a tight-​knit community of shoppers will help you find whatever you need. As a co-​op, their prices, even for non-​members, are cheaper than the other natural food stores in town. Working members get 5% off their groceries for every hour they work in a week (up to 20% off), while investor members pay $ 50 a year for 5% off all year. That means that for those willing to volunteer, this is the cheapest place for groceries in town.