Greetings CreekSide Community,

Our co-op is evolving in so many positive ways – we hope you are starting to notice them.  We are beginning to run more like a business – as reflected in Q1 being a positive quarter (only by a little, but it’s a start).  We are being more responsive to members in our product mix – we get about 20 suggestions a week and staff responds personally whenever we know who made the suggestion.  Last week alone, 4 new products were added as a result of member requests.  And if for some reason we can’t carry a specific product you want, we can almost always special order for you.  We also respond as shopper preferences change and products move in and out of popularity (think chia seeds and kombucha).  Every week, our GM is evaluating what’s selling, what isn’t, what customers are asking for and what vendors can supply – in addition to supporting our mission to provide a wide range of local and organic options.  

Ultimately, our shoppers vote with their wallets (or preferably their EasyShop accounts!).  And we are glad that you do.  In fact, CreekSide is planning a Member Appreciation event starting June 5 and kicking off at our favorite Cheltenham celebration: Arts in the Park.  Look for special products, special offers, special events and special activities throughout the week.  In addition, our Spring Member Meeting will also be held during Member Appreciation Week, on the evening of June 9, 7:00-9:00pm at Curtis Hall.

We know that you appreciate the co-op and our staff as well.  We want to thank you for your patience when we were unexpectedly reduced to only one fully functional checkout lane for a couple of days during one of our busiest weeks in April.  Yet so many of you told me that it was a reminder of how grateful we feel to have checkout lines that are typically so much shorter than at regular supermarkets. 

And there are so many other examples – in fact we are launching a campaign specifically to highlight and share them.  We’re calling it “CreekSide Pride” – look for details coming soon!  While we will continue to solicit and respond to all of your comments, we particularly want to hear about what’s going well so that we can build on our successes.  

Thank you for being a part of the CreekSide community – and see you at the Co-op!

Ben Adams

president@creekside.coop