By Kolby LaMarche

Onion River Co-op, known locally as City Market, will temporarily close its downtown café and public restrooms starting Wednesday, December 3, citing ongoing safety and security challenges.

The decision, outlined in an email sent Monday to co-op members, affects the café space at the store’s 82 S. Winooski Ave. location in Burlington’s Church Street Marketplace area. The store itself and adjacent services, including the sandwich bar, will remain open during regular hours, the co-op said.

“After much consideration, we will temporarily close our café area and public restroom effective Wednesday, December 3, 2025,” the email states. “As there continue to be a number of safety and security challenges, we have decided to temporarily close the café space for your safety and the safety of our staff, Members and customers.”

This marks the second such closure for the downtown café in 2025. 

The venue shut down for about a month in early January due to similar safety issues, reopening in mid-February with reduced hours and enhanced security measures, including on-site personnel. 

At the time, co-op officials referenced incidents such as thefts and overdoses in the restrooms, linked to broader challenges from Vermont’s opioid crisis and increased homelessness in the downtown area.

City Market’s downtown store, a fixture since 1999, spans 16,000 square feet and features more than 1,000 Vermont-sourced products. The café, with its seating and hot bar offerings, has served as a community gathering spot, drawing regulars for coffee and meals year-round. The co-op, owned by about 12,000 members, operates on a 363-day schedule and includes outreach programs like senior meal deliveries.

The closure comes amid persistent public safety strains in Burlington’s core. A May City Council resolution, supported by 170 local businesses, highlighted a “crisis” involving homelessness, open drug use and mental health calls downtown. In September, Governor Phil Scott met with business leaders to discuss retail impacts from these issues. 

In recent weeks, the Burlington Police Department has reported decreases in incidents of crime in and immediately around City Hall Park. However, this increased enforcement has driven incidents to occur elsewhere, like Battery Park, City Market, and the top of Church Street, residents say.

The co-op’s South End location at 656 Pine St., opened in 2017 as a $13 million sustainable facility, maintains a full café unaffected by this decision.

Local mental health advocates, including those from the Howard Center, have tied such business decisions to systemic gaps. The city’s Burlington CARES response team, which handles non-police mental health calls, faces its own funding uncertainties after a recent council delay on a transfer to the Howard Center.

The co-op will monitor conditions and update members on progress. No other public statement has been made by City Market.