The Co-op Living Tree • Uniting Past & Present

The Project...

The Co-op Living Tree Project, designed by Greensboro master sculptor Jim Gallucci, was a fundraising project. Proceeds from the sale of engraved leaves helped to fund improvement projects for the store following our move to our downtown location.

The Tree...

The Co-op Living Tree represents the store’s history, and through its construction and materials, the spirit of community. Versions of an oak or other type of tree have appeared in the Deep Roots Market logo since our beginning. The oak symbolizes the co-op’s growth from a small buying club into a vital downtown presence.

The Co-op Living Tree Project arose from a desire to incorporate Greensboro's vibrant creative arts community into our store, giving folks the opportunity to enjoy and interact with a local artist’s work. Long-time co-op owner and Greensboro master sculptor Jim Gallucci assembled the Co-op Living Tree to commemorate Deep Roots Market’s new growth and to unite the store with a significant part of Greensboro retail history. Gallucci used recycled and repurposed materials—including sections of stamped tin ceiling tiles salvaged from Greensboro’s last downtown grocery store, an A&P located at 221 Commerce Place that closed in 1973—to create the distinctive “bark” surface of the interior tree’s trunk. Gallucci’s inspired sculpture, and contributor’s leaves, unite past and present and root the cooperative in its new center-city home.