The Brattleboro Food Co-op is looking for participants in two focus groups this month to solicit feedback and generate ideas for two endeavors currently underway: the Co-op’s Bulk department is being updated, and a new website is currently being designed.
The Bulk department focus group will take place on Wednesday the 22nd from 5 to 6pm, and the website group on Thursday the 30th, 4:30-5:30pm. “We care deeply about our customers and our community; as a consumer-owned cooperative, we have to, because we’re literally owned by them! We also have a lot of respect for what they’re able to bring to the table,” says Marketing and Community Relations Manager Jon Megas-Russell. “The more input and involvement we have from our owners and shoppers the better our store will be.”
The Brattleboro Food Co-op was formed as a bulk buying club in 1975, back when tofu and brown rice were difficult to come by and long before the internet was a presence. The Bulk department naturally became one of the cornerstones of the store as it grew, and around 2010 the Co-op’s current website was created. Now, in 2017, both need to be updated to reflect the relevance of the cooperative values and principles in this current day in age.
“Co-ops stand for democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. Listening to feedback from people who care about our store is just one way we express our cooperative identity, and a way of showing this community that we value them. It’s just one more example of the co-op difference.”
The Brattleboro Food Co-op now occupies a 16,000 square foot store in a four-story building in downtown Brattleboro that also includes offices, a community room, a cooking classroom, a commissary kitchen, and 24 apartments owned and managed by Windham and Windsor Housing Trust. With over 7,000 owners, it stands as a symbol of Brattleboro’s dedication to cooperation.
