Notes from Food Coop meeting May 8, 2012
Kathy Hill
Notes from Exploratory Food Coop Meeting May 8, 2012
Present
Greg Fisk (chair), Andrew Crow (speaker), 15 more people
Introduction
Will downtown Juneau turn into a food desert when the A & P closes? A full-service market downtown is essential to our quality of life. No other location would be as good for a supermarket. Can we/Should we/Do we try to take matters into our own hands? How? Will a coop model work?
Presentation
Andrew Crow manages the Alaska Cooperative Development Program at the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development (UACED) in Anchorage, funded by USDA, via annual farm bill. Program exists to help form coops or help existing ones. Possible grants next year (cyclic). There is a resurgence of interest in cooperatives now, as there was in the 1930s and 1960s.
Fairbanks: Much discussion of the new Fairbanks coop, probably opening this summer. They have 1300 members, a million-dollar operating budget, and getting to this point has taken them five years; board and committees meet up to six times each month. Their focus had to shift away from local items and they have a helpful property owner at their venue. Fairbanks organizers advise: think about your name early; get memberships paid in full; set up policies and bylaws before fundraising; hire an executive officer - crucial to keep things moving forward; enjoy the process; don’t feel pressured or hurried.
Coop Principles: See http://www.ncba.coop/ncba/about-co-ops/co-op-principles. Coops have a very different business model - operated at a profit, but excess profit is returned to members; not competitive, share information with each other; strong effort to educate consumers and provide healthy and affordable options, show where food comes from, how to cook it, etc. Can be very basic or very elaborate in their offerings. Takes time, flexibility, patience, commitment. Need a board, committees, budget, business plan. Coop jobs usually feature living wage, good benefits, superior working conditions; boards often include dedicated seat for workers. Some coops require members to work, and/or offer discounts for working members.
Funding Sources: Member loans - one family gave 30k; in Madison, WI, a membership drive raised $1M in one week; “Sprout Fund” loans; Food Coop Initiative loans and grants; new revolving fund; commercial bridge loan; there are cooperative banks.
Resources
http://www.foodcoopinitiative.coop/
http://ced.uaa.alaska.edu/akcoops.html
Discussion
- The Willoughby Plan (see http://www.juneau.org/lands/Willoughby_District.php) permits integrated mixed use development
- Grocery margin is usually only 1 to 2%, higher in coffee shop and ancillary departments
- Turnover per square foot is the metric
- Spoilage is high in Alaska and on the way to Alaska
- Competition from “big box” stores here
- You have to heat your whole building even if it’s more space than you can use
- Commercial rents are high (A & P $94,000/mo, $8 to 12 per sf in gift shop zone)
- Value of shopping center (for sale for some time, valued between $10-15M) is dependent on having good anchor, motivates owners, so maybe owners or new developer will put in a new supermarket without us
- Downtown Juneau is not an attractive option for major chains
- Owners of Super Bear, Rainbow, etc. have been approached, as have Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Metropolitan Market, others
- Interest is in having a full-service market, nothing smaller
- Possible to have several independent vendors under one roof
- This property is way underdeveloped, has great potential
- Alaskan Brewery started as Limited Partnership with $5K shares; this is also a potential model; enough partners could take over the existing store
- A qualified manager has been identified
- A & P and Superbear are our only grocers selling local fish
- With more notice and publicity we would have had better attendance tonight
- Juneau Community Foundation, http://juneaucf.org/ possible funder
- Professional research available locally
- Present operator would have to help with transition, not just leave an empty store
- http://www.juneau.org/clerk/boards/Sustainability/Sustainability_Commission.php might help
- If it takes five years to open a coop, we need a different plan for when A & P closes! The timetable weighs heavily against the coop idea
Plan
- First step: form steering committee.
- Greg will arrange meeting with owners, report back to listserv re. their plans
- Greg will contact Stuart Reed at Food Coop Initiative for advice
Patricia Ware
From: kathi...@gmail.com
Date: Wed, 9 May 2012 11:58:14 -0800
Subject: Notes from Food Coop meeting May 8, 2012
To: juneau-f...@googlegroups.com
CC: juneau-downtown-neig...@googlegroups.com