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Starting a food co-op: Year 1

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Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#91

Post by smeagull »

oldandboring wrote: post #74

So much enlightening info in these comments about the economics of these stores and the truth behind the sourcing of the food. I've been a co-op member for almost 20 years; back before I had kids and lived really close to the store we used to go there almost every day. The biggest draw was always the quality of the food; the chain stores were only selling conventional and mass-produced products and if you wanted a be…

The one thing my local co-op does is being able to buy a random box of seasonal fruit and veg for cheap. That's ended up being cheaper than our supermarket.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#93

Post by tacostakohashi »

M2Ys4U wrote: post #71
tacostakohashi wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It tends to work in places where a for-profit supermarket would be marginal (at best), but people still need their groceries, fuel, etc.

The vast majority of co-ops are for-profit enterprises, so I'm not sure why you'd phrase it like that.

Because their primary goal is to provide goods and services to their shareholders, rather than profits and dividends.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#94

Post by jt2190 »

neilv wrote: post #2

This seems to be in the Boston, Mass., area. Some related local background is that there was the Harvest Co-op chain until a few years ago: https://www.boston.com/food/food/2018/10/04/harvest-co-op-ma... There's also the Market Basket for-profit regional chain, where employees and customers successfully stood up against some family business maneuvers to force out the head, and it's once again generally well-regarded…

I mean… Stop and Shop is literally two blocks from where Russo’s was [1] so I’m not sure what relevance Harvest or Market Basket bring to this conversation. (Edit: I’m not trying to be dismissive, but it’s not really clear why these other stores are relevant. Are you suggesting that perhaps labor is being treated better than at the big chains?)

Russo’s was definitely a high-end, premium prices place: Fancy imported cheeses, a large bakery, fresh-made pasta, and a large selection of fresh fruit and vegetables. I have no idea if the workers were paid better or treated better than anywhere else.

A co-op feels like a different beast altogether, so I’m not sure that the patrons of Russo’s will suddenly just move to shopping there en masse, especially since the market for groceries around here is well served. It really feels like the coop would mostly not be about the food.

[1] https://www.google.com/maps/dir/570+Pleasant+St,+Watertown,+...

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#95

Post by forgotmypw17 »

neilv wrote: post #2

This seems to be in the Boston, Mass., area. Some related local background is that there was the Harvest Co-op chain until a few years ago: https://www.boston.com/food/food/2018/10/04/harvest-co-op-ma... There's also the Market Basket for-profit regional chain, where employees and customers successfully stood up against some family business maneuvers to force out the head, and it's once again generally well-regarded…

I was able to figure out it's in the Boston area by the 617 area code and the name, but after spending 5 minutes looking for its actual location, I still can't find it. It doesn't seem to be on the website, and it's not on Google Maps either.

Does anyone know where this is actually located?

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#96

Post by chiefalchemist »

oldandboring wrote: post #74

So much enlightening info in these comments about the economics of these stores and the truth behind the sourcing of the food. I've been a co-op member for almost 20 years; back before I had kids and lived really close to the store we used to go there almost every day. The biggest draw was always the quality of the food; the chain stores were only selling conventional and mass-produced products and if you wanted a be…

> The only reason to go there is if we happen to be in the area and/or if there's something we want that we know they only sell there, but that's no different than the 3 big-chain stores in our town.

Actually, there is a difference. The dollars spent at a co-op are far more likely to stay in the local community. On the hand, give it to the big chain, and it's far more like to make it back to HQ (and the shareholders). Not your local community.

"Local Dollars, Local Sense" by Michael Shuman was an enlightening read for me.

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/local-dollars-local-sense-how-...

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#97

Post by icelancer »

losteric wrote: post #89
kjbreil wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle area has the nations largest and oldest grocery co-op - https://www.pccmarkets.com . 16 stores and generally doing well. The answer to how to keep it going is to run it like a grocery chain with experienced leaders and good board governance. In my experience a lot of the smaller coops I've seen have a problem separating the ideology from the need to run a business, grocery is notoriously low margin so a littl…

> The answer to how to keep it going is to run it like a grocery chain with experienced leaders and good board governance. PCC is also known to treat employees relatively poorly, just like grocery chains. There are also complaints about an "old boys" culture, familiar to anyone that worked retail long-term. In the Seattle area, there are better coops like Central Co-op, with similar prices and better worker treatment…

>> PCC is also known to treat employees relatively poorly, just like grocery chains.

I've heard this about every employer in Seattle. Forever, Costco had a great rep, now you can't mention it anywhere without people shitting on it. Starbucks used to give out benefits and was heralded, now being crapped on. Gravity Payments, lol at the founder's recent news stories.

And so forth. A lot of them are with good reason, but I'm pretty sure there's a strong sentiment in this city that "all management is bad management" even in employee-owned stores. Winco is a good example of that.

I mention that my employment at Microsoft was pretty good, despite being caught up in numbers-based layoffs, and people harshly wonder how I can speak well of a former employer who terminated my job without warning.

It's hard to take all the criticism all that seriously, to be honest.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#98

Post by bombcar »

chiefalchemist wrote: post #96
oldandboring wrote: post #74

So much enlightening info in these comments about the economics of these stores and the truth behind the sourcing of the food. I've been a co-op member for almost 20 years; back before I had kids and lived really close to the store we used to go there almost every day. The biggest draw was always the quality of the food; the chain stores were only selling conventional and mass-produced products and if you wanted a be…

> The only reason to go there is if we happen to be in the area and/or if there's something we want that we know they only sell there, but that's no different than the 3 big-chain stores in our town. Actually, there is a difference. The dollars spent at a co-op are far more likely to stay in the local community. On the hand, give it to the big chain, and it's far more like to make it back to HQ (and the shareholders)…

> The dollars spent at a co-op are far more likely to stay in the local community

That may not be the case anymore if the coop sources everything from the same sources Whole Foods does.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#99

Post by bombcar »

dylan604 wrote: post #61
hinkley wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ace hardware is technically a co-op, but that would be a surviving one more than one for the 21st century. REI is also a co-op but I couldn’t explain how to save my life. However, Organic Valley definitely is a co-op, and while they started in 1988 they didn’t seem to get serious traction until around 2000, and now they’re everywhere on the west coast, which is not bad for a Midwest company.

Interesting you mention Ace. It is truly one of my favorite places to visit in new cities. No two Ace stores are the same. One in my area focuses on homesteading, and is known as the place to get your baby chicks to start your chicken raising experiment. They also carry other items that are in this line vs just your typical selection of tools and what not. Then another Ace in Flagstaff saved my butt while on a video…

One big key to Ace is they don’t seem to penalize the store for buying outside of the “catalog” as it were. Most franchises forbid it.

I’ve even seen a few stores change from Ace to another and back.

Re: Starting a food co-op: Year 1

#100

Post by bombcar »

artec wrote: post #75

How do you all keep it truly democratic with (eventually) 1000+ owners? Who decides on major decisions like, where it will be built, what funding sources you'll accept, who will do what work etc.

You can’t keep it “truly democratic” - the owners are basically there to replace the management if they go insane.

And coops have been known to explode - usually when they become untenable for the reasons that drove the grocery stores away.

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