Common Ground Grocery

Susan Huff

2024-03

They were very helpful and carried a lot of good healthy options. Loved this store we real return

Alexis Jones

2023-11

Friendly staff always helps to make recommendations that quickly become favorites.We love getting our coffee and honey from here but we also have grabbed tea, spices, and more

Charisse Agnew

2021-05

I am very happy this store is around. I have been trying to get more acquainted with herbs and homeopathic remedies. I also needed to help calm my cat. I got help with both! I will definitely be frequenting this shop often!

Sonya P

2023-09

I love the convenience of being downtown Bloomington meeting my needs on niche items I can’t locate at normal stores. They have great biodegradable bags and pet waste bags (I use for cat litter scooping) in the cleaning dry goods section. I love getting eggs, oat milk, and snacks here! And they are open to looking into specific items for you as well to add to their list. I tried a snack food here once call The Good Crisp (healthy version of Pringles) and they were AMAZING! it’s fun to just look around at different things you wouldn’t normally think about getting. I definitely recommend stopping by!

Kevin

2023-05

Great little "health food" store gem in Bloomington. Pricing is decent, and for a small store— a pretty good selection! Staff is friendly and very helpful. I "found" a coffee roasting companies whole beans they carry here, which are excellent! And I love my coffee....

Jayson Lane

2023-05

Great little store with a great selection. Staff is very friendly! A lot of healthy options. You should definitely check this place out!

Aaron White

2022-05

My family absolutely adores Common Ground. We visit every weekend to see what new vegan treats await! Some weekends there are donuts up by the front counter! I love the selection and healthy foods that common ground carries! Definitely stop in and make it a regular stop!

Raechel Pieper

2023-05

Such an incredible shop with a variety of things! My husband and I love to shop here for all the vegan goodies, many that we often struggle to find elsewhere.

Je'Rid McCormick

2020-05

Very helpful staff with a good knowledge of what is sold throughout the store. Nice selection of herbs and spices with some locally sourced item like fresh Honey. They will donate to charity if you bring your own bag/don't take a bag after checkout. This is done by the staff giving you a bean to put into a charity jar of your choice. There is an area to sit by the window if you need some time to relax or wait on loved ones as they shop. Definitely worth the stop of you are in the downtown Bloomington area.

Duane “Mike” Malany

2018-05

This is a wonderful local grocery store. Great selection of loose leaf teas. While some items are more expensive than big box stores, they certainly have the best prices when it comes to tofu and honey, among others. If you're a vegetarian or vegan, this locally owned store is totally worth spending sometime looking around! Highly recommend!

Kate Donnell

2018-05

Love this place. High shelves & bulk bins allow them to have great selection in one of the smallest grocery stores I’ve ever visited. Don’t be deterred, you can find anything you need here and if they don’t stock it they will order for you if possible. Helpful, friendly, and knowledgeable staff. I’ve been a customer for 9 years and have always enjoyed my visits, I actually look forward to shopping here unlike stressful big box stores. It’s a true gem and one of the coolest small businesses around.

Leslie Grant

2020-05

Great place to find local natural products. Offers a large selection of vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free items. Love the bulk sections! And you can get a quick wrap to eat on the go :) Located in scenic downtown Bloomington.

Rachel Troyer

2022-05

Looking for a few different ingredients. Lua was so helpful over the phone. She offered to bag up what I needed having it ready for when I had someone else pick up items! Appreciate this place and all they offer.

Andrew Karmy

2017-05

If your reading reviews it's probably because you're from out of town and looking for a good co-op/organic style store? Well Common Ground is trying to be what you want. The best way to describe it is tiny. The staff is friendly and the selection is as large as the space allows. They have a good selection of local products and a few bulk items too.The store could benefit from a doubling of the square footage and selection, but it's hard to do that as a small private store. Their best option might be to form a Co-Op. but that's neither here nor there, you should give them a try. And then drive out to HyVee for the usual national organic food brands.

Veronica

2020-05

Had an awesome experience getting contactless grocery carryout (so many vegan options!) from Common Ground. Small businesses are able to adapt and innovate faster than big chains, which is especially important during the current pandemic. Placed an order online, and received a call where they had a short conversation with me about options (I was not as specific as I could have been). They called again a little later to let me know my total, I was able to pay over the phone, and I set up a pickup window. Drove downtown and called to let them know I was there, popped the trunk, and the masked staff carried it right out! You're not going to get this kind of personal service from a big franchise.

Brian Halinski

2018-05

I love the different natural drink, a lot of natural foods, natural meds, and friendly bosses and workers, plus you can recycle their too, also when you use your own bag you get a pea that is worth 5 cents and put it in one of many jars that help local services that help kids, family, animals and other great services in town. Just a great place to shop.

Remy

2018-05

The store largely sources fair trade, organic, and local products. Prices for these fair trade and organic products are largely lower than what you would pay for similar Goods at a larger store. Personally, my favorite things to buy from them are spices and coffee. I like to get their coffee blend of the month, fair trade Demerara sugar, and local organic milk and then I make lattes at home with them. The staff there is very nice and extremely helpful. It's such a sweet little shop and I can't help but to go there since I live very close. It's honestly one of my favorite shops in downtown Bloomington.

Eric Zumbahlen

2018-05

Common ground is a great local grocery store. They sell all local products and they have many bulk items as well. Their workers are always polite and very helpful. It's a joy going there and they carry excellent quality!

Anmaree Erickson

2023-05

It's a lovely little grocery store with natural items and quite a few vegan options. Very polite staff.

T S

2021-05

I typically have a positive experience here and support local small businesses especially smaller stores who sell locally grown/made goods & specialty foods (diet specific) -- however I was deeply disappointed in my recent experience of having unknowingly purchased an expired vegetarian roast for my vegetarian daughters to serve them at Thanksgiving. I purchased it on Tue 11/24/20 and when I went to prepare it, I noticed the expiration date of 8/12/20 - already thawed, I returned it to the fridge. When I made the extra trip to return it and bring this to their attention, the manager said that there was a sign and took me to the freezer to see the sign - there was no sign - she justified it must've been taken down and reinforced there had been a sign and the price had been reduced. The original price was $23.79 and sale price was $15.00. I thought it was a regular sale - for Thanksgiving & not a "3 month past expiration date sale. " Despite my great dissatisfaction the refund was refused and the manager reassured me it would be fine because they'd been frozen. Really? There had been a clerk helping me when I selected it and she made no mention of the special "sale" or expiration date. Very disappointed to say the least.REPLY to response -- I researched this issue further and learned these roasts can be used for up to 65 days once thawed - frozen for up to a year. I wish there was a FDA requirement for a "packaged by date" vs the use of an "expiration date" as the norm, which is not FDA required and the expiration date most often only suggests the last date of max freshness, causing a great deal of good food going to waste. If I/consumers knew a packaged by date w/ details for frozen or refrigerated "good up to dates" - we could more easily make these determinations. Since the site states they can be refrozen once thawed - and are good for 65 days once thawed it should make it to Christmas. It is odd this info isn't on the box despite room for it.Please consider 2 things --1) placing an additional sign directly in w/ the roasts or any similar item so it's obvious. As consumers, wer'e bombarded w/ ads, signs and learn to filter/block them out. Typically expired & discounted foods are separated from rest and easy to identify.2) Upon my return to the store, it would've made all the difference had you or any of clerks taken the time to check the site and share this info w/ me. It took me 2 min to Google it & read the FAQs (vs the 'too bad, there was a sign' response I received).I think most are aware small businesses are especially struggling as are consumers w/ all aspects of Covid problems and this is why I decided to share such a lengthy post on this rather minor, but important issue. I prepare a meat & vegetarian menu during holidays and just wanted to know what I was serving was safe (and frankly it can be difficult to determine proper smell/appearance of non meat - meat products - so I look to guidelines such as the expiration date). I don't always double-check this date at time of purchase. I didn't think to Google the site in chaos of preparing dual menus when I did see the date on Thanksgiving. Please consider my suggestion for a better sign & respose approach as it would've made for a positive experience vs this one. Without this Google review option, my poor CS experience would've remained that way). Thank you for your response.

Mel Lunny

2017-05

Surprising selection for the size of the store. Bulk options for all kinds of grains right here in downtown. Gluten free, organic, dairy free, vegetarian, vegan, you name it. Wide selection of vitamins and supplements and very knowledgeable staff to help you wade they it all.

Whitney Hemm

2020-05

We just happened to stop here after lunch. It has everything you can think of! They have everything bag yourself, so no extra waste! I wish we had one back home. We picked up smoked gouda and dried mango.

Josh Hoyt

2019-05

Super friendly helpful staff, local meats, local flour and produce. I also like that they have bulk spices and tea so I can get just a little of an obscure spice that I'm just going to use on one dish.

Alyssa Cooper

2019-05

Love this place! They are always so friendly. They pre-make housemade items in the back daily. I go in regularly to pick up soup or tofu egg salad for lunch!

India Cameron

2022-05

Me and my fiancé went in there they asked us about 10 times each if we needed help in the 20 minute span that we were in there this place is obviously prejudiced. And every time I looked up they happen to be looking I’m not trying to be picking or anything but definitely weird vibes

David Schappaugh

2022-05

Great place to shop for those natural items! Very friendly and helpful. Small store with a powerful inventory.

Siarra Ilene

2020-05

One of my favorite small shoppes in Bloomington! If you're in the area, you should stop in because they have something for everyone. A lot of the products I need you cant find anywhere else!

Gilford Moore

2022-05

Common Ground Grocery has been in business for decades! Others come and go, but Common Ground is still around! It's THE place to go for healthy eating!!

HeartSong Germain

2022-05

Still requiring masks so I will not go in. Thankful for curb side service but will shop somewhere else if they don't lift these restrictions. I have an immune system.

Christopher A

2018-05

Nice store. They carry a lot of unique vegan items! Staff is always friendly too.