General Manager Update: February
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.
February General Manager’s Report
Working Together to Nourish our Community
Market Relevance
January sales remained strong, averaging 7% over January of 2020. Customer counts remain lower, likely due to the impact of COVID -19 and restrictions on customer occupancy. We continue to monitor the daily traffic flow, ensuring we keep below our occupancy limits and sanitizing all carts and baskets between use.
In late December we ran our first Member Appreciation Deal with a onetime 20% discount on supplements for all members. As a pilot program, we felt it went well from both the member and staff points of view. We will be running more deals like this throughout the year, trying different areas of the store and different benefits to find out works well—and what doesn’t!
Food System Development
Seeds have already begun to arrive. This year we have a new local vendor for seeds, Deep Harvest Farm from Whidbey Island, while one of our long-time seed vendors, Seed Dreams, has retired. More seeds from other vendors will be coming in the next month.
Without produce sales—which account for the majority of our Local 5 sales—Local 5 sales in 2020 were 7% of our total store sales, up 14% from 2019. Local sales increased in most departments with the exception of cheese and supplements. Without Mt Townsend Creamery, the cheese department has much less Local 5 product to offer, and several Local 5 supplement products were moved to grocery.
Environmental Sustainability
Recently we heard the good news that the manufacturer of our cash register receipt paper, Rolly Receipts, will be reducing their carbon footprint even further by moving manufacturing from China to Dayton, Ohio, and eliminating the plastic film that they currently pack them in. Several years ago, Dave, our FE manager, brought in Rolly Receipts, who at that time were a small startup company. We were excited to bring in this product, which unlike the previous paper, was free of chemicals, had a paper core, and was produced by a company that planted trees to offset their environmental impact. Later, Dave connected this company with NCG (our co-op of co-ops), which worked with Rolly Receipts further reduce purchase costs for us and other co-ops. How cool is it that we were able to work with a fledgling company and help them grow enough to improve their practices? Thanks, Dave!
Outreach
We wrapped up 2020 by giving back to our community with donations to the BIPOC Farmers Market Seed Fund, a local BIPOC Wellness Fund, Woodbridge farm, and Give Jefferson.
In a partnership with the Community Wellness Project, we were able to install a Little Free Pantry at the Co-op where people can give what they can or take what they need any time of day. This pantry is sponsored each month by a partnering business or community member who will come and check on it frequently and make sure it is stocked and clean. The Chimacum Wellness Project helps build, place, and organize the volunteers to take care of Little Free Pantries in and around our community. If you are interested in learning more or hosting a Little Free Pantry, please reach out to them at pantry@jccwp.org for more information. Our thanks to Holley Carlson, who committed to maintaining the pantry at the Co-op for the first three months.
