Outpost Natural Foods Cooperative celebrated the opening of its fourth store on May 12. The 16,700-square-foot building, located at 7590 West Mequon Road, in Mequon, occupies land purchased by the co-op in 2013 and is the first location outside of Milwaukee County. Roughly 5 percent of Outpost’s nearly 19,000 owners live in Mequon, in Ozaukee County.

The Mequon location uniquely offers a stone-hearth pizza oven; local beer, kombucha and sodas on tap; and a sheltered outdoor dining pavilion. The 10,000-square-foot retail space boasts a green design using wood rafters, Lannon stone and other elements reclaimed from buildings cleared for the site. Large trees removed from the property were sent to Kettle Moraine Hardwoods in Caledonia, where the wood was milled and cured for reuse in other urban building projects.

Sustainability is also incorporated throughout the Mequon project’s exterior design. The landscape program offers fruit and nut trees, a kitchen garden for use by kitchen staff, underground cisterns and a hybrid vehicle electric charging station. A grant from the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District enabled the installation of large rain gardens and permeable paving as part of the finished design to allow for greater management of stormwater runoff. All Outpost landscapes are maintained without the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers.

For more information, visit Outpost.coop.