General Manager's Blog: April 2020

General Manager’s Blog

by Kenna S. Eaton

Each month, I report to the board on how we are progressing on our long-term goals, which we call our Ends. These Ends reflect our aspirations—what we want to accomplish—and they are what makes us different from a regular grocery store. We publish these reports as a blog to keep our member-owners up to date on what we are doing.

The reports are organized by our five Ends, although not all are discussed in every report. Our refreshed Ends say that, as a result of all we do—

-    Our community is well-served by a strong cooperative grocery store, integral to the lives of our customers, our farmers, and our producers.

-    Our community has a resilient local and regional food economy, supported by our Co-op and our community partners.

-    Our staff and board have the knowledge, skills, and passion to make our cooperative thrive.

-    Our members and customers are proud to shop at a local cooperative grocery that is working to reduce its impact on the environment.

-    Our community is informed, engaged, and empowered to join us in making a difference.

L to R Top; Skylark, Mabel, Liam L to R Bottom: Emily, Kathy, Thea

April General Manager’s Report

This month is all about COVID-19, and what a whirlwind it has been. Since the outbreak, we have been challenged every day to keep up on all fronts. We have needed to be nimble to address the myriad concerns surrounding the topic, from making sure we have enough product on the shelf to ensuring that shoppers and staff feel safe in our store. Adjustments have been made weekly, and sometimes even daily, to ensure that we are following all state and federal regulations as well as CDC and DOH recommendations.

I also want to give a hearty THANK YOU to our board directors who organized volunteers to shop for our members unable to do so for themselves. These great volunteers shop on Sundays between 1 and 4 pm and Thursdays between 9:30 am and 12:30, so if you want the quietest shopping experience, you might want to pick another time to shop.

Market Relevance

We have kept members up to date on the latest COVID-19 related Co-op news by sending emails to all members when the need was urgent and updating our web site as operational changes have been implemented. Changes have also been posted to social media on an ongoing basis. We have heavily increased the in-store signage, covering topics such as letting customers know where to wash their hands and asking them to keep a “social distance.”

We instituted “Emergency Preparedness” pricing at the beginning of March, so our members could stock their pantries, only to discover that we were unable to honor those purchases due to limited stock available from our distributor. We will honor the offer when the situation changes. While we are currently unable to shop for our customers, several community members have stepped up to offer this service. We have posted some of those offers on our website and others are posted in store in our Community Hallway.

Food System Development

We were very excited to start buying from the Puget Sound Food Hub (PSFH), located in Skagit Valley, in mid-March. Our first order was for honey and flour, but we hope to increase the breadth of purchases as we move forward. The PSFH, a farmer’s cooperative, exists to make it easy to buy directly from multiple local farms with one order, one delivery, and one invoice. They are able to maintain traceability, so we can always know which producer or farm the product came from.

And in spite of the cold spring, we were able to begin selling plant starts from Midori in March, so our shoppers can start planting their own gardens.

Thriving Workplace

We were excited to welcome Zan “Anami” Cloud (who goes by Anami) to our Co-op as our new Facilities Manager. Anami brings a broad set of relevant work experiences and skills, and we are excited to welcome her aboard. At the same time, we were very sad to say goodbye to Laura Llewellyn, produce manager, who left us in early April to return to farming. We have begun the hiring process (internally at first) and look forward to filling the position as soon as we can.

COVID-19 related updates: Two of our highly talented staff made face masks for all staff who wanted or needed one, and they also built protective screens for cashiers. We welcomed back several employees, mostly on a temporary basis, who wanted to help us through this unsettled time. And we are giving all of our staff extra “hero pay” of $2/hour for all hours worked, beginning March 22nd and ending April 25th; this will be reviewed and updated at that time or as needed. Thanks all!

Outreach

We made the decision to cancel all classes through April. We will keep everyone updated as the situation evolves. Our marketing team was kept very busy during March creating and posting any number of COVID-19 related signs and updates. They did a great job, as did everyone of following their own advice to “Stay Calm and Carrot On”!