A Director's Chair:
What stands in the way of progress?

by John Godfrey
Edited by Cole Godfrey

How much longer can we thrive at our current location? Between September 2004 and September 2005 the Coop had a record growth of 20.4%. Currently, the Coop is looking at an estimated 18% growth thus far for the year 2005–6. There are many reasons to explore the benefits of expansion. One only has to arrive to shop at the Coop on a Saturday or in the evening hours to note there is a need for expansion. The parking lot is overcrowded, the grocery aisles are not large enough for masses of people, and checkout lines can easily overflow into the traffic of shoppers if cashier lines are low and baggers are unavailable. These inconvenience most Coop members are used to and many shrug off as, “Well that’s the Coop.” However, if we are invested in expanding our members and our community shoppers, we need to make sure shopping is not a hassle, but a pleasant experience. After all, we do have an amazing selection of food, pleasant and educated staff, and it only makes sense to provide 100 % good service.

The Strategic Planning committee has been exploring options to find a larger rental space for the Coop for some time now; however, this exploration has not been successful. The other concept, which appears to be gaining momentum, is the creation of a second Coop. In the most recent referendum, 57% of the members that voted favored a second Coop location. Some folks may be concerned the Coop would appear to be a chain store or that we would become a capitalist natural food store conglomerate. But I believe that we can expand and still be the Coop that members enjoy and support.

The benefits to members who live near the new location are obvious, as are the gains from relieving pressure at the current location. If the Coop grew twice or three times its current size, so would be an opportunity for our 5% profits donated to be put back into the community. Additionally, if a sister store opened in another location, staff would need to be hired for that store, which would create employment opportunities for people living in the Capital District. Currently, the Coop has one of the best benefit packages in the industry. Do the area grocery stores pay 100% of their employees’ health benefits? The Coop does.

The community would benefit from having a Coop II in the Capital District. The community could also benefit from expanding the great energy people feel about working together for a common goal at another location. Some folks have mentioned being concerned about loosing the “community feel of the Coop”; but if we can expand that great energy into another location, and simultaneously share and educate all that we have at the Albany Coop to our sister store, and this makes more opportunity for more members and shoppers, then how can we go wrong? Aren’t we all trying to share our ideas and educate people in our community about the planet, healthy living and the ethics we share? I can’t see how expanding what we have could make what we have less important. It simply expands the opportunity for people to have more choices in the Capital District, which is a great thing! Both the Honest Weight Coop and Coop II or Coop III would be working toward the same goals.

Another benefit for the community with this expansion is that for support of local farmers, bakers and craft persons in our region. As we expand, so does the opportunity for our local businesses that we purchase our products from. Our expansion could help these businesses survive the national competition.

From a marketing/financial perspective, there are many issues to look at. We have competition from companies such as Whole Foods, Wild Oats, and Hannaford and Price Chopper selling many of the same products we are selling. The Coop generates approximately 60% of its revenue from its nonmembers. That 60% translates into about $4.6 million. If Whole Foods or Wild Oats came to Albany, we can almost guarantee to lose at least 20% of our nonmembers to our competitors. Losing 20% of our nonmembers means a potential $1 million loss of revenue. A million- dollar change in revenue could easily translate into a loss.

The Coop’s primary goal is not profitoriented. But let’s be honest. Money does affect a business’s ability to be self-sustaining and any loss can negatively affect the Coop and its members. When a business loses money it adjusts by making some tough decisions to get back to a healthy financial position. The Coop might need to reduce staff, reduce benefits or increase prices — all of which could be avoided by embracing the idea of expansion. By expanding the Coop to another part of the Capital District, we may make it less appealing for competitors to enter the market in this area. Does our competition give 5% of their profits back to the Capital District community? Does our competition provide ethical jobs with great benefits to their employees?

By having two or more Coop locations in the Capital District, we can increase our competitive advantage in this region by providing highquality natural food with an emphasis on local goods and services. We would be able to grow our Coop culture to reach more people in our community. We will be able to increase the amount of money we could put back into the community and create employment opportunities. The possibilities are endless! Let’s take advantage of this opportunity and share our wealth of ideas!

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