I scraped 60+ worker-owned co-op stores to build a searchable product directory

What It Does

workerowned.info indexes 32,000+ products from 60+ worker-owned co-op stores. You search for something - coffee, chocolate, books, soap, whatever - and it shows you which co-ops sell it. Click through and buy from their store directly.

There's also a location tool for finding worker-owned coffee shops and restaurants by city (110+ listings across the US).

How It Works

• Scraped product catalogs from Shopify, WooCommerce, and Squarespace stores using their public APIs and feeds
• Product data stored as JSON, search is client-side
• Built with React + Vite, deployed on Vercel
• No backend, no accounts, no tracking, no ads

The Scraping Approach

Most co-op stores run on Shopify (products.json endpoint), WooCommerce (REST API), or Squarespace (RSS/JSON). I wrote scrapers for each platform, normalized the data, and combined it into a single searchable index. The whole catalog refreshes periodically.

Why I Built It

Worker-owned cooperatives make great products but they're invisible compared to Amazon. You have to already know they exist to find them. This marketplace is an attempt to fix that.

I'm a hobbyist - this is a volunteer project. No monetization, no plans for it.

Curious About

• Anyone else working on ethical/cooperative tech?
• Co-ops I should add?
• Feedback on the search/UX

Link: workerowned.info