Deep Roots Market, Greensboro’s beloved co-op grocery store broken into early Monday morning

Featured photo: A Deep Roots employee sweeps up broken glass in front of the store on Monday (photo by Sayaka Matsuoka)

UPDATE (5/17): The store is now open again for normal hours.

UPDATE (5/15, 6:16 p.m.): This story was updated to include repairs and new opening times.

UPDATE (5/15, 4:10 p.m.): This story was updated to include information from the police department.

Early Monday morning, around 4 a.m., Greensboro’s beloved co-op downtown grocery store was broken into after a truck drove into the front of the building, breaking the main glass entrance and the second glass entrance.

The store, which is closed today by order of the fire marshal, had workers milling about in front, cleaning up shards of glass while a crew of maintenance workers assessed the damage inside.

“The complete front of the store is completely damaged and also the frame of the second entrance is damaged as well,” said Ashleigh Odom, the store’s board president. “We don’t know much about the incident; we’re still assessing the damages.”

The target? The crypto-currency ATM near the entrance.

After assuaging the community that “no groceries were harmed,” Odom stated that the bitcoin ATM that usually sits near the entrance of the store was the target and was stolen during the incident. She said that at this point, they are not sure if the machine will be replaced.

Odom also told TCB that the police is investigating the break-in, but that they have no other details about who broke into the store.

On Monday afternoon, Sgt. RB Todd with the Greensboro police, told TCB that police arrested one of the suspects after responding to the breaking and entering call at 4:03 a.m. Todd noted that the suspect was charged with Felony Breaking & Entering, Larceny after Breaking & Entering, Felony Possession of Stolen Property, Felony Conspiracy, and Safecracking.

Todd said that the department believes “other suspects were involved and are still being sought by [the] agency.” 

The stolen ATM machine was recovered, according to Todd.

After posting that the store was closed for the day on social media, hundreds of supporters commented, asking if they could come volunteer to help the store. To that, Odom said she and everyone else with Deep Roots is grateful, but that the best way to support the store is to come shop once it reopens.

If all goes well, Odom said the store should be open again by Tuesday. The broken entrance will be blocked off and the second entrance will be used until the main doors can be fully fixed.

On Monday afternoon, the store’s social media page noted that “damage has been cleared and temporary construction put up” and that the store would reopen on Tuesday at 8 a.m.

As a community-owned co-op grocery store, Odom said she encourages people to become a part of the store’s ownership program, which costs $100 for a lifetime membership.

“The community has really rallied around us,” Odom said. “We’ve gotten all kinds of phone calls and love and support.”

Also, when the shop reopens, Odom said that she’d love to see customers back and shopping as usual.

“We want to show the strength of Greensboro; Greensboro is home to me and home to many,” Odom said. “So our community has really rallied behind us and given us the strength and ambition to clean this up and get open as soon as possible.”

Deep Roots Market has been operating in Greensboro since 1976 after starting as a small vegetarian buying club in a dormitory at Guilford College in the 1960s, according to the store’s website. In 1990, the co-op moved to a small building on Spring Garden Street and in March 2013, Deep Roots relocated its current location in downtown Greensboro at 600 North Eugene Street.