Responding to customer demand and a turn-key opportunity, the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society’s management and board of directors will soon open a second auto repair facility at the site of Prime Subaru (former location of The Car Store) on Route 5 in Norwich, Vermont.
Following more than 30 years servicing automobiles at its South Park Street, Hanover location, the co-op’s Norwich repair facility will result in a doubling of capacity to serve co-op members and customers. The large bays and equipment currently at the site will allow for new services, such as servicing of trucks, fleets, a weather-protected lane so customers can pull inside when dropping off their vehicle, and shorter wait times for appointments.
Hanover Co-op General Manager Ed Fox said, “Our auto repair business has been growing rapidly at our Hanover location. This Route 5 location is an ideal opportunity for our member-owners to find service at their business. Expanded capacity and services such as Vermont inspections have been a long time in coming.”
The co-op’s Auto Service Center in Norwich will have five times the lot space as its Hanover location. The expansion may mean as many as seven new employees. The first service appointments are expected for early December, with full staffing and operations anticipated by next spring.
The Hanover Co-op Food Stores, also know as the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society, is owned by more than 24,000 members. The Co-op seeks to build a well-nourished community cultivated through cooperation. From its founding in 1936 by 17 Dartmouth College professors and their spouses, the Hanover Co-op has grown to become the oldest and second largest of its kind in the United States. Today, the Co-op serves more than 5,000 customers each day. For more than 80 years, the Co-op has maintained a stated commitment to buying locally produced food. With locations in New Hampshire and Vermont, this cooperative generates sales of more than $70 million annually from its three grocery stores, community market and auto service center.