I’d like to start with a review of the process that led us to the model change: about a year ago, the board
conceded that some sort of change needed to happen, as the sales, ownership numbers, and workshiftsfilled rates had all been trending negatively for a while. We sought input about potential model (and
other) changes through some owner surveys and outreach, and the feedback we received was mixed- lots
of ideas had vocal support, but most of those same ideas also had a significant number of detractors who
were strongly against them. The “open to the public” tiered model that we ended up bringing up for a
vote was the option that we as a board felt would be the least traumatic, in that it would retain the largest
number of active owners while also opening up the possibility for new revenue streams in the form of
public shopping. The model passed by a vote of 131 in favor to 2 against. The results: sales were up 10%
in June, flat in July, down 9% in August, and now down 16% in the first half of September relative to
2015. As you can see on the small handouts around the room, for the whole period from June 1 through
September 15, sales dropped 1.6% relative to the same period in 2015. Visitor sales nearly doubled, but
it hasn’t been enough to cover the loss in sales from ownership.
Although there was little vocal opposition to the tiered model during the Re-think process, shift coverage
has not gotten any better (worse, in fact), and it appears that we have lost owners who are not interested
in working anymore. The primary short-term goal of the board through the Re-think process was not
necessarily increased sales (which we hoped would come with time), but owner engagement. However,
the energy in the store has been notably low for months now, and the lack of workers filling shifts has
been challenging. Thanks to all of those of you who have been showing up for your shifts, and extra
thanks to those who have helped with the price changes, promotion of the DSD effort, the May Day and
Sample Day events, and other marketing efforts that we undertook this summer.
Looking at the financials, what stands out to me on the balance sheet is that we’ve reached a point where
our inventory has dropped to a level where it is comparable to accounts payable (which has risen),
which means that even if we were to liquidate our inventory (which makes up the bulk of our liquid
assets) at retail prices, we’d only be able to pay back our creditors, but most likely not the bank (who we
still owe $12 K) and probably not our member loans. I am still unsure of how all of this would play out
exactly, but I definitely believe that we’re at a point in time – with our assets : liabilities ratio solidly
below one- where it’s worth hiring a lawyer to lay out an exit strategy before things potentially get even
uglier.
Something that doesn’t even show up on the balance sheet- something that troubles me even more than
the numbers themselves- is all of the unpaid labor that’s even kept us open this long. There are
thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of labor that have been given to the Co-op out of love and
commitment that employees would not typically donate to their place of employment. And there’s
something beautiful about that, as it shows what this institution means to those who work here as
employees, but it’s also deeply troubling as a board member, because I know it’s not sustainable. Lee
recently departed, so we’ll need to make a hire. Terri has offered to cover the coordinator position on
those days when Christian isn’t able to work for a few more weeks, but about a month from now, we’d
have to hire a second coordinator or, alternatively, contract store hours to fit something resembling
Christian’s current Sunday through Wednesday schedule. I feel uncomfortable, even dishonest, being on
a hiring committee knowing that 1) we’ll have difficulty paying anybody we hire an honest wage, and 2)
we’ve burned out every person who has worked in the position previously due to an implicit request to
be in the store longer than the number of weekly hours they are paid for. I don’t believe that I have it in
me to sit through a hiring process and say “We’d like you to work x hours a week” to a potential hire,
when I know in the back of my mind that every person we- as a cooperative- have told an hours-perweek number to previously has put in more hours than that per week without any corresponding
compensation.
Moving forward: Could the Co-op survive? Here are my thoughts after 4 years on the board: A Food Coop could, in theory, survive in Missoula, and potentially even thrive, but it seems unlikely that it will
happen under the current umbrella. There are a lot of people in Missoula not currently affiliated with our
operation who have a positive- or at least neutral- opinion of us and who we could potentially bring into
our fold. At the same time, though, we’ve unintentionally sown a lot of confusion and a variety of
negative perceptions in the community (that we are exclusive, require a burdensome time commitment,
have poor product selection, or are out of the way). In fact, the Re-think process exposed that we have a
fair amount of confusion within our own ranks, as there are factions that could see us going wildly
different directions, from retracting to a buying club in a garage to abandoning the worker model
altogether and shaping ourselves after the Bozeman Co-op or a neighborhood corner store. All of the
complaints about the Co-op that I’ve overheard or been told directly by community members have also
reached my ears from some of you in this room. So if a faction of you wanted to step up and fill the
leadership void that’s coming down the pipeline in the near future, you’ll first and foremost need to
address what exactly this place is going to be and separate yourself from those aspects of the operation
that are at odds with that vision. Right now, we’re spread too thin in a lot of ways, and I think a tightlyfocused mission would be a necessary starting point for any Co-op that had a chance of doing well here in
a town that has a lot of diversified competition in retail grocery (for a town this size). Any Co-op that had
a chance of surviving would need most or all of the following to be in place from day one: a clearly
defined model; a space that was appropriately sized and laid out with retail principles in mind; a means
to pay a person to do marketing (if growth was part of the model, since our attempts to establish a
volunteer marketing committee have failed time and again); a way to recruit, train, and retain board
members who were inspired to devote a good amount of their free time to the operation; a business plan
that above all else ensured that employees were compensated fairly and honored for their work. We’ve
heard people say they want the co-op to do well, but those words need to be backed up with significant
contributions of time, effort, and, unfortunately, capital, since in our current state, there are no excess
discretionary funds to speak of.
In summary, these are all issues/questions that we as a group- if we are honest with ourselves- haven’t
succeeded in addressing over the years. Personally, I have put a decent amount of time into this
organization over the years, so it's hard for me to say this, but I think it’s OK to accept defeat. And I know
that there are multiple people who have put in a lot more time than I have, so I can only imagine how they
feel. We have a beautiful ideal that might not be realistic under the current conditions, but that doesn’t
mean it needs to die forever- maybe some subset of you can make it work in some form. I would certainly
admire any of you who wanted to keep trying to live the Co-op dream, but I’d also caution you to be
honest with yourself about how much energy you are willing to commit to such a vision, and to come up
with some well-thought-out answers to the questions I posed earlier, as we’ve been ad-hoc’ing solutions
to our problems forever, and it hasn't led to a lot of success. I am personally spent and ready to move on
to other projects, so I’ll be stepping down from the board in the next couple of months. If we collectively
decide to shut down, then I’ll stick around on the board and see that process through, but if the will is to
keep going, I’m going to step aside and make room for fresh energy and ideas.