C-SQUARE Update

Have you heard? C-SQUARE has a new name: the Makery!

The what? The Makery! Let us explain. When the Co-op purchased the C-SQUARE building from the County to expand customer parking, a decision needed to be made about what to do with the building itself, and a vision was born: create a destination for food adventure – a marketplace overflowing with amazing food, an option for people to get even more of what they loved from the Co-op. And so, C-SQUARE was named for the alliterative offerings it housed: a market, or square, with CRUST & CRUMBS (the bakery), Cuppa (the roastery), Cured (the butchery), and Cones (the creamery).

Foodies will recognize the names Tartine and Zingermann’s, businesses that provide a bevvy of products to eaters on the hunt for something exceptional. Tartine boasts a “manufactory” in San Francisco, Zingermann’s a bakehouse, cakehouse, makehouse (to name a few) in the Midwest. The Co-op has been doing the same since we opened the Deli Next Door, handcrafting hundreds of items right here. C-SQUARE was the endeavor to take your eating experience to the next level.

And while the storefront portion is now closed to the public, the behind-thescenes action is a beautiful display of how food should be made, and the idea remains the same: to provide you with even more food to enjoy. So what do you call a space that is home to so many culinary delights? Kitchen isn’t grand enough. Bakery leaves out other key functions, as do creamery and butchery. Which brings us to: Makery, an all-encompassing, whimsical, made-up word that’s a conversation starter. Just what are we making? Everything!

As of August 1st, all Co-op food production has been taking place in the Makery. What was once the Third Street Cafe restaurant space has been transformed into a state-of-the-art food production facility. Shortly after closing the restaurant in 2021, we made the decision to re-purpose the space in a manner that would benefit our core business, your beloved Food Co-op. (Did You Know? We were just voted Skagit’s Best Grocery Story – again!)

When C-SQUARE opened in 2016, the Co-op bakery items, smoked meats, pasta, ice cream, and pizzas were being made in the kitchen spaces that occupied the back half of the building. Now, the entire building is designed and dedicated to producing all Co-op made foods, including Deli food. Before the move, we were producing food in the C-SQUARE Building as well as two locations in the Co-op Building on the first and second floors. The Co-op Building work spaces had outgrown customer demand for fresh, high-quality food and could stand for some upgrades.

Speaking of upgrades, the process of revamping the space did not come without challenges. The pandemic impacted our opening timeline more often than not, especially when it came to ordering equipment. What was once available on-demand, was now backordered 6 weeks, 8 months, 1 year. That’s some slow moving, like molasses in winter.

Turns out, patience really is a virtue. All of the waiting is paying off. The Makery is bright, with ample light and climate controlled throughout. There are over twenty workstations, all designed for specific food production tasks in a way that’s efficient and ergonomic. The equipment we were waiting on? A steamer to quickly steam your favorite vegetables. Two tilt skillets, an innovative way to cook our soups and stews. Dual stack convection ovens and a new charbroiler for your sought-after grilled items. Two new large walk-in coolers, one medium temp and one freezer. Two high capacity blast chillers that allow us to chill hundreds of pounds of fresh cooked food down to food safe temperatures for packaging in under two hours. That food can then be packaged and stored if need be or sent directly to the Co-op– talk about fresh and local!

Another perk: staff is loving the new digs and the good vibes of working together under one roof. The unity is already evident behind-the-scenes and in product consistency. Best of all, we’re busy chipping away at the ultimate goal: giving you what you’ve asked for – a wider variety of delicious, nutritious food, made right, and made right here at the Makery.