The Mifflin Street Co-op, 32 N. Bassett St., closed its doors for good Dec. 8, only a few weeks after a Nov. 20 83-3 vote by the grocery's board of directors to shut down the historic headquarters of the Mifflin Street anti-Vietnam War movement.
The co-op had been losing money for a number of years. According to an Oct. 23 e-mail sent to co-op members by President Matt Stoner, the co-op had lost $30,000 in the previous six months and nearly $60,000 over the course of the year. Additionally, the IRS was seeking $100,000 in back taxes and late fees.
The Mifflin Street Co-op was a cornerstone of the Madison anti-war movement when it opened up shop in 1969, and since then, has been an emblem of Madison's counterculture. It organized the first Mifflin Street Block Party in 1969 as a means for students in the Miffland,"" or Mifflin and Bassett Street areas, to protest the Vietnam War.
