Choices at the Co-op

The discussion on the member forum is off to a marvelous start, and it is truly wonderful to see so many dedicated members offering their thoughts.  I look forward to it continuing to grow.

A topic that keeps coming up is choice.  That's no surprise since the co-op is about all kinds of choices.  With 6,500 square feet of retail space, and limitations on what we can buy at decent prices, we simply can't carry every brand.  So the staff makes choices.  We have member-owners with some very specific ideas about what we should sell - yes, some push for organic, but plenty also push for lottery tickets and diet coke, and the staff and board listens to it all.  Members want to have choices in the store.

Where we started just two months ago was simply that - a starting place.  We started there based on recent member surveys (less than a year ago) as much as possible, but also based on what was easiest to buy in a short period of time, what were best-sellers from our first distributor, and what sells well at other co-ops.  And anyone who has been to the store both in the first week and now can see a tremendous difference in what we carry and how much it costs, with many more changes to come.  Having only expensive pasta sauce and cottage cheese, as folks in the forum brought up, was unacceptable.  Now there are many pasta sauce selections in the $3-4 range, and cottage cheese for just over $3.  And many other familiar brands and/or familiar prices.

You can find CreekSide's mission statement, values statement, and product philosophy here.  The staff uses these guidelines, as well as your feedback, current buying options, sales trends, and other factors, when choosing what to put on the shelves.  While we can't promise to specifically carry Folgers and Dial soap (as one person in the forum wants), we certainly should make sure to have a familiar type of product at an accessible price, while striving to satisfy our product philosophy and our members' needs.  All the better if they are brands that members ask for.  But the answer isn't to simply sell everything anyone could possibly want - there is limited space, buying limitations, and an identity that the store needs to have to differentiate it from other options.  Neither is the answer to stick to a select set of products - it is not economically viable and doesn't satisfy enough of our membership.  It is a set of careful and at times complicated choices that the store is just beginning to get at all right.

The cooperative model has, among other principles, both democratic member control and concern for community at its core.  So this is exactly the ongoing discussion that we need to have.  The key is that we are doing this together, to our collective benefit.  

Here is what we can all do to help: 

1. Buy whatever you can at the co-op.  Has anyone done all their shopping at just one food market in at least 10 years?  It is perfectly fine to go elsewhere to get whatever you can't get at CreekSide, but please buy whatever portion of your groceries possible with us.

2. Share your thoughts.  Use the member forum.  Contact us.  Come to a member meeting or a public board meeting.  Join a committee.  Run for the board this fall.

3. Spread the word.  Let your friends and neighbors know that CreekSide is listening, evolving, and is working hard to become their store too.

The co-op isn't perfect, but it's getting better.  We need your (friendly, if you can) criticism to get it right, and we also need your support.  Many people have worked diligently on this for years - not to spread some sort of food agenda, but to provide a vibrant market and community gathering place that we can all be proud of.  We're getting there, and will keep getting better with your help.  I'm glad to be doing this with you.

See you at the co-op!

Max Minkoff
CreekSide Board President