Co-op Connects, with the General Manager (GM) and a Council Member held on January 13 

Thanks to the folks who showed up for the first Co-op Connects on Monday. GM Mary Mullally and I sat in the café, with an open invitation to members to stop by to talk about matters related to the council or to the operations of the store. A few people stopped by for our inaugural event, where we served coffee and cold drinks. I was not surprised that most of the questions had to do with store operations: food choices available, serving systems, pest control at the store, etc.  

We plan to continue these, and other members of the council are interested in joining us. Watch this space, and signs around the store, for details on upcoming events. If there’s a time during the week that you’d especially like to come to chat with the GM and a council member in the future, please email me. We’ll take suggestions into account in our scheduling. 

Renewing the Co-op’s Vision and Strategy 

I wrote in the last newsletter and spoke at the Annual Meeting about the overdue renewal of the Co-op’s 10-year plan and vision. At its meeting this past Tuesday, the council committed to renewing the Co-op’s plan and vision. We plan to spend our upcoming retreat working out how we can best use input from members and workers to plan our priorities.  

Again, watch this space! 

Wrap-Up 

The store was crowded on Wednesday, as usual, with many customers looking to buy vitamins and supplements at the weekly 20% discount. I saw someone gazing sadly at a shelf where the vitamins she wanted were sold out. I approached the customer and comfortingly said, “Plethora.” 

She brightened for a moment and said, “Thank you. That means a lot.” (And then I referred her to Customer Service, where they gave her a rain check.)

—Carl Etnier, Council President

Do you have any questions or comments about the council? Do you know any jokes even faintly related to food and/or co-ops? Please email them to me!