By Matt Stanley/General Manager
Published in the Co-op’s Winter 2015 Newsletter

Visiting our fellow food co-ops across the country is practically a pastime for me. My wife doesn’t always get what all the fuss is about, but she’ll oblige a visit to the local co-op because it usually means a source for eating healthy on the road.

Recently, our Board of Directors generously gave an entire weekend to the task of writing the store’s five year strategic plan. We decided to make a trip up to Port Townsend for our retreat this year. We chose Port Townsend because of the similarities between it and the City of Astoria.

Both cities have similar populations. Both have downtowns that are characterized by locally owned businesses. Astoria has slightly lower median household incomes (about 5% less). And Astoria and Port Townsend alike are relatively isolated from major highway corridors. But most of all, of course, we chose to travel to Port Townsend because it boasts a successful food co-op!

Kenna Eaton is the Port Townsend General Manager. She, too, generously gave of her time to give our Board of Directors a tour of the Co-op she manages. If you’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting this co-op, you’ll know that it is considerably larger than our food co-op. In fact, it is about the size store we are beginning to envision for ourselves here in Astoria. And this size is not overwhelming. Even though it is nearly quadruple our size, it still very much felt like a food co-op. Photos of local producers adorned the walls. Staff was accessible and friendly. We envied the expansive produce section, customer service desk, filtered water filling station, and more than ample deli seating area. They had some neat ideas in the store too. For example, a section of the store was reserved for local cottage industry producers to sell their wares (for no charge) directly to consumers.

But the Port Townsend Co-op is running out of room! They sell more than $13 million in heathy foods each year, mostly to their consumer owners. They employ over 100 folks. Their well laid-out and merchandised store betrays a back stock nightmare. They simply do not have enough room to store all the products that they sell. Each morning, staff rolls all the back stock of packaged grocery items outside underneath a tent. At night, it comes back in. This takes a lot of work!

Such a process reminds me of some of the inefficiencies that our store endures. Receiving our large grocery, produce, and meat deliveries outside in the rain comes to mind. Fortunately for both Co-ops, we are carefully planning our futures to accommodate our growing needs and aspirations. The Port Townsend Co-op prominently displays their recently created strategic plan. We are looking forward to

sharing our plan in the coming months. It will communicate the big ideas, goals, and focus points that will guide our decision making as we plan for more space.

Thank you to the Port Townsend Co-op for showing our Board of Directors what is possible, even in a small town, when we cooperate. And thank you to all Astoria Co-op Grocery owners for being a part of our planning process. We look forward to continually improving our store and all that it has to offer to our community. And next time you are traveling, be sure to check out the local food co-op. If you see ideas, products, or practices that you like, be sure to let us know!

Matt has been the Astoria Co-op Grocery General Manger since April 2008. To contact him, please e-mail [email protected]

By Zetty Nemlowill/Marketing Director
Published in the Co-op’s Winter 2015 Newsletter

Results of a recent survey we offered you are shaping the Co-op’s strategic plan. There were several ways we gathered community input, but the shopper survey in October, was the farthest reaching. We heard from advisors (National Cooperative Grocers) that based on our size we’d need about 300 responses to be statistically robust. Guess how many responses we received from you? 760! For those who took the time to complete the survey, thank you.

How did we achieve such a high level of response? I think first and foremost, we have a very engaged community. There was obviously a lot of interest from Co-op owners and shoppers in helping shape the Co-op’s present and future. We got the word out regarding the survey via emails, Facebook, newsletter, in-store signs, newspaper, and radio shows. There were many questions, but the big one was regarding expansion, and whether Co-op shoppers would align themselves with the Co-op board and management’s vision which includes a bigger space within the next five years. We heard a resounding “yes”.

85% of respondents support growing the Co-op, 13% neutral and less than 2% opposed. One concern cited was the Co-op re-locating too far away from its existing footprint. But rest assured, the survey also told us that if the Co-op were to expand, most people would prefer it to happen in Astoria.

The most important aspects of a possible expansion listed in the survey results include a greater variety of products, new or expanded services in the store (such as a deli, meat counter, bakery etc.), selling more local and/or organic foods, increasing the Co-op’s purchasing power (which could result in lower prices), and expanding the number of living wage jobs.

While an expansion would probably be months to years in the making, the survey results are really helpful for the work we do now, to know where your priorities lie. For example, the top social issues survey-takers thought the Co-op should champion are as follows: supporting local agriculture, providing nutrition education, promoting recycling, and addressing local hunger problems. We can keep this feedback in mind when planning outreach activities.

Overall, it is good to see we are doing a good job of meeting our shopper’s needs. Nearly everyone said they’d recommend Astoria Co-op Grocery to a friend. We are so grateful for all the feedback which will help us improve our cooperatively owned local food store.

Click here to view the Daily Astorian article.

By Matt Stanley/General Manager
Published in the Co-op’s Fall 2015 Newsletter

Our store has accomplished many things that set us up for a successful expansion. We have a board of directors aligned around the idea of building our co-op’s capacity as a grocer, a strategic plan that serves as our guiding document, and we have an engaged and growing ownership that shares what they’d like to see in a new expanded store. Our current store continues to grow sales and improve our operation, all in preparation for our evolution into a larger platform grocer. Staff, me included, continues to develop their capacity as leaders and operators of a natural foods store too.

Dollars and Cents
But no matter how much strategic alignment or community excitement we create, much of our project’s success will depend on our ability to raise financing. Fortunately, co-ops have unique opportunities to raise capital. Indeed, one of the seven cooperative principles is “member (owner) economic participation.” To raise capital, co-ops use common shares, owner loans, and preferred shares in addition to traditional loans from banks and credit unions. Owner investments help both with actual capital and with showing lenders that our owners are committed to supporting this business’s growth.

“Own a Grocery Store With Us” Equity Drive
As you may know, a fully paid ownership is $200 per household. Most owners pay this in annual $25 installments. By making payments early and adding more owners, we can raise $10,000 in owner equity in October! Everyone can participate in one of the following ways:

1) Sign up or encourage a friend to sign up and pay the full equity amount of $200.
2) Owners paying in installments can pay off the remaining balance on their $200 share.
3) Owners who have already paid off their $200 (or any owner) can pay an additional $100 in owner equity as allowed by the state of Oregon.

Anyone helping us reach our October equity goals in any of these ways will receive a free Astoria Co-op Grocery cotton tote bag as a thank you! Upon purchasing a full share you’ll receive your Astoria Co-op Grocery share certificate. And those who pay off their full $200 share can enter to win their own personal chef for an evening: Marco Davis, the fabulous chef from our farm to fork dinner events.

The capital that we raise in October will be used to strengthen our balance sheet as we move into expansion mode. Our normal monthly equity is around $3,500, so this will take a lot of help from a lot of owners to reach our goal. October is National Co-op Month too, so this is a great time to become fully committed to your local food co-op. It’s not just about the money; the success of this equity drive will show a future lender just how much community support our store has.

Next Steps
In the near future we’ll begin using the other methods used by many co-ops to raise capital. We’ll be sharing more information with you next year regarding owner loans and preferred shares. In the meantime, we’ll be hard at work developing our expansion plan and searching for a site.

Owner Loans
Owners loan the Co-op money and the Co-op pays it back with interest according to a predetermined schedule of payments. Our Co-op used owner loans in 2008 to make our move to the current location.

Preferred Shares, or Class B Stock
Preferred shares, unlike common shares, earn a dividend for owners who purchase them and may be purchased in quantity. When and how they are redeemed will depend on the Coop’s financial situation. Thanks to everyone who pays some equity during the month of October. Simply shopping at the Co-op and spreading good word of mouth about our store helps too. Cooperatively (and with a lot of hard work and careful planning), I know we can own a new grocery store!