Juneteenth Holiday Shopping Hours, 8 am – 5 pm

In observance of Juneteenth National Independence Day, the Coop will have reduced hours on Wednesday, June 19.
Shopping hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

What does Juneteenth Commemorate?

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of the last enslaved Black Americans. While the Emancipation Proclamation was issued in 1863 to free enslaved people in Confederate states and the Civil War ended in April 1865, not every enslaved Black person knew they were free. Approximately 250,000 Black people in the Confederate state of Texas continued in bondage. On June 19, 1865, about 2,000 Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, to announce that the Union had won the Civil War and the enslaved Black people in Texas were free. Texas was the last Confederate state forced to free enslaved people of color, officially ending slavery in the U.S. In 1866, the first Juneteenth celebration was held in Texas. Over the years, it has also been called Jubilee Day, Freedom Day, Liberation Day, and Emancipation Day.

In June 2021, Juneteenth National Independence Day was established as a federal holiday, the first one to be established since Martin Luther King, Jr. Day in 1983. Also, in 2021, the Coop decided to recognize Juneteenth as a paid holiday for all our staff.