HPKCC Future of the Hyde Park Co-Op 2006

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October 25 2006 Forum "Future of the Co-op" results and reports

The October 25 2006 HPKCC independent forum on the Future of the Co-op

Some significant disclosures:

The Co-op is paying $90,000 to $100,000 a month to its 47th store leaseholder (Certified). This is an unbreakable 26-year lease. Certified also has a hold on the Co-op as vendor, especially for produce--which all agreed is a problem-- but that this hold can be reduced or eliminated once the 47th store is leased and the Co-op doesn't have to buy on credit.

The Co-op leaders said they expect to be out of 53rd Street by the end of the year and to have 47th leased by the end of first quarter 2007.

A huge financial hole was opened when the new 47th Store ran a million dollar overrun related to its opening 1999. Also, Co-op leaders hold the 47th store was a financial drain from the beginning and would continue to be. (Some of this was disputed and was blamed on management.) Leadership believes they can successfully turn the financial problems around and successfully address outstanding deficiencies once the 47th site is leased. This includes muscle to leverage vendors and lessen dependence on Certified.

 

Some comments we've received on the forum and its topic

From Dick Gill:
The October 25 public meeting regarding the Co-op was excellent. HPKCC performed a real community service by arranging and hosting the meeting.

From Jay Mulberry:
I cannot praise you enough for the way you put together the meeting last night. The survey we got when we came in was an excellent idea and what a surprise that it was tabulated and by the end of the meeting! Great! The panel was extremely well chosen and you were a very effective MC.

I enjoyed the discussion very much and I don't think anything better could have been organized.

Here's my thought:
The audience seemed to be over-represented by people with resources to travel elsewhere for their food. It was underrepresented by working class people, perhaps on welfare, who need the Coop and who feel they are treated with respect when they are there. That one working class woman who spoke and said Hyde Parkers don't know what they have should be commended. She did way more than Claudia Fegan (who sounded whiney in her opening remarks but better as time went on) in representing what the Coop is really all about.

The Board spokesmen get only a "B-" from me. Their statements were not detailed enough to convince me that positive things are happening under the surface or to explain why not. They did only a fair job in portraying the Coop as a great community resource that serves a very large number of people, retired, on welfare, etc. -- who can't afford to go outside the area to shop. A wonderful point never made: the Coop stayed open during the scanner crisis even though it was losing $80,000/week. Dominic[k']s would have let its customers and employees hang, but the Coop didn't.

The Coop needs a working Board with directors who devote lots of time to it and have the experience to ask the right questions of staff. I don't think we usually have this. It is probably not a good idea to have a prominent doctor as Chair; how can she possibly have time to do all the things that need doing?

I am not sure that the 47th Street purchase was such a bad idea. At the time the Coop didn't have good enough management to run even one store well, much less three, and didn't have a Board that kept track of the details. (BTW: I didn't know about of the horrible oversight of construction of the 47th Street store before last night. What a disaster!)

We have to keep going. I am not worried about the people who can afford to go to Trader Joe's but about the many elderly and food-stamp-using customers who will be lost without it.

Thanks again for a great meeting!

Dina Weinstein in her Oct 26 blog (http://hydeparkmama.blogspot.com/) wrote:
Neighborhood grumbles about supermarket

Last night there was a program about the Hyde Park Co-op supermarket at the Neighborhood Club sponsored by the Hyde Park Kenwood Community Conference with many passionate voices for and against the store.
The store manager wasn't there but there were two current board members and a former board member as well as the owner of the former Mr. G’s (what is now the 53rd Street store).

You will be able to read the minutes and summary of what occurred in the HPKCC’s reporter publication, which will also be published on-line next month.
There were all the regular and predictable responses – many, many people – even those who have lived here for years – now leave the neighborhood to do grocery shopping. Many there called for the Co-op to gracefully fold and make way for a Dominick[']s or Jewel.

Certainly the money losing 53rd & 47th Street spaces are a millstone.
Many believe the current management is completely incompetent. Because of the way the store is run, it’s important for members and neighborhood residents to be very vocal to the board. But it’s even questionable whether that makes a difference.

But yeah, it does come down to the University of Chicago having a big role in commerce in Hyde Park. The university does control most of the real estate and building choices. While there are some very vocal and active people here in the neighborhood, we do have a unique opportunity right now with a new president at the University starting here.

James Harris, HPKCC Board member and head of Civic Empowerment

To the Editor:

By most preliminary accounts, everyone expected “The Future of the Co-op” community forum to be a knock-down, drag-out barn-burner, complete with cursing, fighting, daggers and spears. The Co-op’s financial and operational challenges have long since been the subject of many frustrating discussions in Hyde Park community, and the forum, organized by the Hyde-Park-Kenwood Community Conference, represented an excellent opportunity to publicly sound off. As the meeting began, the host of the forum asked the 100+ attendees to heed a list of rules on the wall of the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club that had been written for children, but that appeared appropriate for the evening’s discussions: No fighting, No Cursing, Be Respectful, etc….

Contrary to all expectation of the need for law enforcement, I was surprised at the level of agreement that ensued throughout the evening, despite the fact that the forum was predominantly stacked with disgruntled Hyde Parkers. To be sure, people expressed sincere and heated frustration, and a couple of speakers were nearly moved to tears. Yet, everyone, including Co-op board representatives in attendance, appeared to agree on most of the issues that bubbled up. Everyone agreed in their opinion that the store’s produce offerings have been horrible. Everyone agreed in their opinion that there have been problems with store and staff management. Everyone agreed that the Co-op, since its Depression-era inception, has served a great need in the Hyde Park community, and that the Co-op’s current shortcomings were unacceptable.

The Co-op representatives acknowledged the challenges that were presented, and provided further insight into the complexities of the issues that plague the beleaguered organization. Community members were too eager to present solutions. A variety of colorful opinions were passionately presented on how to fix the Co-op’s dire straits. Some demanded the resignation and subsequent impalement of the current general manager. Some called for the Co-op organization to take a bow, go silently, and make way for corporate chains such as Jewel and Dominicks to move in, and “run things like a real grocery store”. Throughout the evening, people took turns talking about what they thought was wrong and what they thought someone else should do about it. It became evident that no one was going to acknowledge the purple 3,000-pound gorilla that was sitting in front of us all that evening.

The term “Co-op” is a contraction of the word cooperative, which is derived from the verb to cooperate. According to Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, to cooperate means to act or work with another or others: to act together. The evening’s forum began with a brief historical account of how the Co-op was established. The historian indicated that the Hyde Park Co-op was founded out of necessity, by community members who came together and worked together to establish and maintain a thriving community resource. Throughout the evening, others would reminisce about the glory days of the Co-op, making mention of how particular Hyde Parkers worked on behalf of the Co-op, and how their efforts contributed to the Co-op’s past prosperity.

It was very telling that shortly after the historical account, the Chair of the Co-op board made a presentation, which indicated how the Hyde Park community’s engagement with the Co-op has been dismal. Interestingly, no one disagreed with this assessment. As the evening’s activities continued, it became evident to me that the problem with the Co-op is not just about management, or bad fruit, or horrible contract obligations. The most important factor of success within any community based organization, and what appears to be the most evident challenge for the Hyde Park Cooperative, is the level of community co-operation in its success, or the lack thereof.

To be sure, the Co-op’s immediate issues appear obvious: they need help establishing and enforcing a performance management program; they need help negotiating more flexible vendor and leasing contracts, they need financial and accounting expertise. Yet these immediate issues are the result of structural challenges that have probably existed for a long time. These structural challenges require structural solutions, and those solutions must come from the co-operation of both the Co-op leadership and the community stakeholders that it serves. As a former Co-op board member perceptively mentioned, many of the Co-op’s needs for resources and expertise could be, and should be, addressed by some of the very Hyde Parkers that came to berate the organization.

The Hyde Park Co-op is a rare treasure, whose patrons and employees represent the social, economic and cultural diversity that makes Hyde Park one of the jewels of the Northwestern region. Few neighborhoods in the nation are able to boast the level of community engagement that Hyde Park has through the Co-op. Try getting Dominick’s or Jewel to modify the products they offer at the customer’s request, or to use their proceeds to support community-based programs. Yet Hyde Parkers should not be made to choose between having a successful store and having a store that is responsive to community needs. They should be able to have both.

But this successful union will not be realized on its own. As with all successful community-based endeavors, it will require Hyde Parkers to get involved in the solutions that they seek. I hope that the same energy and interest that brought Hyde Parkers out to this valuable and informative community forum will drive them to regularly attend Co-op planning meetings, to lend their ideas and expertise for the resolution of the Co-op’s immediate and structural challenges. But that, of course, will require more effort than sitting through an evening forum and telling other people what to do.

During the discussion, one of the speakers suggested that Hyde Parkers might consider investing in the success of the Co-op, rather than just presenting its problems. In the midst of all the critical statements that were exchanged throughout the evening, this may have been the most insightful comment of all!

James Harris

(773) 732-1270

jharris@civicempowerment.org

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The Future of the Co-op, HPKCC forum, October 2006
A General Summary

Being published in the Conference Reporter, 2006 No. 4

by Gary Ossewaarde

Upon inquiry from HPKCC Conference members and the board, a forum on "The future of the Hyde Park Co-op" was organized by the Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference and held October 25 at the Hyde Park Neighborhood Club. About 120 concerned Hyde Parkers attended. The organizing committee consisted of M.L. Rantala- Chair, Jane Ciacci, Jane Comiskey, George Davis, Rani Fedson, Clairan Ferrono, Lynne Heckman, and Vicki Suchovsky. Moderator was George Rumsey, president of HPKCC.

The agenda consisted of a survey distributed at the beginning, with results summarized later in the meeting, a short history of the Co-op, a short report on the Co-op in cooperative movement context, opening statements by four panelists, and questions to the panelists and comments from the floor.

Winston Kennedy, former Co-op board president, presented a brief history of the Co-op. The Hyde Park Cooperative Society (Co-op) began as a buying club or consumer cooperative society in 1932. Starting with purchase of staples, it quickly expanded into most kinds of groceries and then non-groceries. Later it went farther, into furniture and housing for example and occupied several locations. Kennedy said the additional store on 47th was a glorious concept but ahead of its time.

Kennedy listed the Co-op’s characteristics as a cooperative:
· Community involvement—including housing, daycare, square dancing
· Good labor relations and innovation
· Local control and responsiveness to local input (compared to chains).
Kennedy said he thinks the Co-op can recover; people want a solid, good Co-op.

Gabriel Piemonte, a past Nominating Committee member, discussed the Co-op in the cooperative movement context. Piemonte said Hyde Park's Co-op was part of a first wave of general-purpose cooperative grocers. He said the national cooperatives movement is very interested in survival of the Hyde Park Co-op and is willing to help preserve it.

Piemonte said the Co-op has to be considered in light of what would be serving the neighborhood in its place and whether that alternative would be less or not responsive to and controlled by the community. Also, he said that it is uncertain whether a comparable store could be persuaded to come in and how soon; if it looks like the Co-op is going to fail, what transitioning plan can be put in place? His concern is related to a larger problem of how well Hyde Park manages change and a lack of inclusive planning process. He warned that jumping to the worst-case scenario of shutdown could be disastrous and that we should first treat the Co-op’s problems as an improvement opportunity.

The panel members made opening statements. Panelists were:
· Joel Gearring, a past Co-op board member,
· Claudia Fegan, present Co-op board president,
· Jim Poueymirou, Co-op board vice president, Chamber of Commerce president,
· Bill Gerstein, a past board member, officer, and ex-independent grocer.

Joel Gearring discussed what he described as systemic problems of the Co-op, including a poor general manager and top staff, poor employee relations, poor products and inventory control, a board that fails to oversee the manager, failure of the Society to oversee the board and lack of a standardized marketing plan. He encouraged members to come to the meetings and ask tough questions and be willing to vote the board out.

Claudia Fegan agreed that members should come to the meetings, lamented that few do, and called attention to the next annual meeting November 19 at the Neighborhood Club. The participation and input into difficult decisions is essential for the Co-op to succeed. Getting people to run for the board is very difficult. Also, for several years the board kept changing its focus. It has recently become more business-experienced. The board this year did a full, 360-degrees evaluation of the general manager and is doing its fiduciary work and rolling up its sleeves. She said that all should know that the 47th store was doomed from the start.

Jim Poueymirou also emphasized the need for feedback and suggestions. He stressed that the Co-op helps a lot in the community—including the kinds of things boards and managers of chains would not be doing, like provisioning and flipping pancakes at the Neighborhood Club breakfast. He said the pressing burden is the ongoing monthly cost of the 47th lease and four years of instability. Once the space is leased, the board and management can focus on stocking the store and other needed improvement. Yet, he reminded the audience, the grocery business is tough and tight, with non-grocers like Walgreen’s competing.

Bill Gerstein apologized for his involvement in what turned out to be bad decisions in the 1990s. In his opinion, solving the present problem requires knowing what "we" want the Co-op to be. First, it should be “A good market.” At present, he said, the Co-op can’t even compete with distant stores in selection, operations, service, and trained staff that cares. Second, “A good cooperative” should have good community involvements. If it can’t do what people want, should it be dissolved? That would be a real waste of opportunity, he said, but the Co-op should “get better or get out.”


The floor was then opened for questions and comments.

Houston Stokes: Members need data and are not getting it from board reports. Do the core business right. It would be a tragedy if the Co-op goes. Fegan said reports are available at board and committee meetings but cannot be otherwise made available.

Cedric Chernick: The store is too small to do what the different customers want and is trying to sell too much that is not its core business. The Co-op should consider moving operations to the 47th store and closing 55th. Fegan replied that the 47h overhead would swamp the Co-op. 55th has a favorable lease vs. 47th and that for years 55th has carried the whole operation. Gerstein added that his small store on 53rd was highly profitable.

Toba Cohen: Concurring with Gerstein’s comment, she said Certified is the problem. She recounted talking to a staff person stocking spoiled fruit, and was told that they have to take whatever Certified supplies or nothing—and that Certified has the worst. Gearring said Certified is the holder of the terrible 47th lease, but the General Manager of the time had a million dollar overrun on the new store that has still not been overcome. Poueymirou said that regardless the Co-op could not sustain trying to run three enterprises. The present board is doing much better and much to correct, and once the 47th space is leased, will be able to gain leverage with vendors. Please bear with us now.

Heather Refetoff: The Co-op has outlived its time. It should be thanked and should facilitate handover to a full service supermarket chain that can offer good quality products at low prices. We need a store like every other neighborhood has—one with selection. We have to spend our dollars elsewhere. The Co-op is a drain on Hyde Park retail because people shopping elsewhere for groceries are buying other things outside the neighborhood, also. Why can’t we have stores like in Evanston? Spare us “death throes” for the Co-op. Poueymirou said lots of businesses don’t succeed.

April Pauls: That’s right; several Dominick’s have just pulled out of city and suburban neighborhoods, with no warning or dialogue. If one of those comes into Hyde Park, we will be at their mercy. Some can afford to get in an SUV and go elsewhere to shop; many of us can’t. The Co-op serves the less affluent who are thrilled they have the Co-op to shop at. We don’t appreciate what we’ve got now! Fegan agreed and added that getting a chain to come here is very hard—they like to choose key corridors that can draw from a wide area.

Steve Carl: Carl referred to his detailed suggestions sent to the Herald. Produce is bad and not at a good price, and produce sets the tone for a grocery store. The Co-op should have a new approach and buy produce direct. The Co-op spends too much effort outside the core business and on frills. The Co-op also doesn't have velocity. Fegan said that at present we are at the mercy of vendors. When you pay late you don’t have much choice. No one seems to want to lease the 47th store. She agreed that the board should conduct more business in committee. She said that suggestions by Carl and others are not being rejected, but take a lot of money to implement.

Mike Prete: Put your money into the Co-op. A lot of top companies learned from the Co-op. The U. of C. is pushing up costs in Hyde Park. The Co-op is a shining light across the country.

Briony Patterson: When she worked in the Co-op membership department, she was embarrassed to promote memberships because people can’t redeem shares until 14 months after purchase. The Co-op and board are secretive and issue opaque financial statements. Going to meetings won’t help you. It is unfortunate about the 47th lease. There is good staff at the Co-op but staff is not allowed to contribute. She said she was discouraged from submitting member suggestions. Let someone else run the store, and do other things as a cooperative. Poueymirou said the Co-op does welcome contributions from staff. Poueymirou added, We are seriously negotiating on 47th. The lease costs $90,000 a month. Others wondered how the Co-op could get out from under such a large debt.

Charles Staples: 47th is still an opportunity—currently it’s a millstone. Jewel, etc. are not cheaper than the Co-op. The Co-op needs house brands—and more staff courtesy and enthusiasm. Fegan: We’re within 4% on prices and can’t afford to lower more. A single store has difficulty getting the best products or having house brands. The board should not run the store, only oversee it.

Diane Lukoff: People don’t want to shop at the Co-op; it is not a functional grocery store. I like the community services, but other stores do this also. She asked panelists whether the General Manager should be replaced. (Panelists agreed, were non-committal or did not respond). Lukoff asked panelists to name three things the Co-op can do now to turn things around. Gerstein: Have a clear vision, have a general manager who knows the discipline of the numbers, and one who can have the confidence of the customers so they will buy shares. Gearring: Replace the General Manager and top staff—there is no fear factor there like there is for the rank and file. Have great people and develop a good culture—replace the weak and expensive human resources person. Payroll is the most costly item. Fegan: We are concentrating on cash flow; until that’s solved we can’t address the other problems: the hole is really deep and leasing takes a really long time. Changes need a lot of thought. We do need a plan.

Jerre Levy: We want a functional store here and don’t want to leave to shop. What is the evidence that the Co-op can become functional? Poueymirou: The 55th store is profitable. (After consulting with Fegan): We can be out of the 53rd St. store by the end of the year, 47th St. by end of first quarter of next year. Levy: How long after that to get good produce? Poueymirou: A year.

Margaret Goldstein: The store needs volume. How were you trapped with Certified? Co-op doesn’t have the capacity for inventory control. It can’t brand itself. Growth and employee advancement are impossible. It can’t generate turnover. It needs a full-time board, technology and a financial study—and observed that at a board meeting she attended, board member technical qualifications are low. Fegan: We can track inventory with the new registers, which we were within weeks of getting when the old failed. We are able to lure employees from places like Whole Foods because they can innovate here instead of following cookie-cutter procedures. Gearring: The payroll is too high and big. There should be a shares drive. Fegan has improved transparency.

Sheila Hori: She praised many in the staff and said she enjoys volunteering as a shut-in shopper. Are there plans for consumer education? Fegan: Yes, we are going to bring back an education director and are putting up labels comparing nutrition etc. as well as prices.

Fegan summarized the evening's dialogue with the reminder that the Co-op will not have an easy time but with the feeling that this meeting moved the dialogue forward. Poueymirou added that anyone can run for the board; interested members should call the Nominating Chair Carol Schneider. A new message board announcing meetings is going up on the Co-op website. .

Finally, Lynne Heckman summarized the survey findings (see box). George Rumsey reminded everyone that the reports would be available at www.hydepark.org and thanked the panelists and the audience. The meeting was adjourned at 8:53 pm.

Summary Questionnaire result (c. 100 returns from 120 counted attendees). Compiled by Lynne Heckman, HPKCC Ad Hoc Committee on the Co-op.

Three quarters of attendees are members of the Co-op.
61 percent say they have been members for over 20 years- 29% over 30.

There has been a dramatic change in shopping habits during recent years: 40% say they used to make 80% or more of their purchases at the Co-op; these people now make less than 20% of purchases at the Co-op.

What is to be done:

30% say the Co-op should close and be replaced with another store.
27% say the Co-op should reorganize and re-examine its purpose.
21% say the Co-op should change its management
12 percent said the Co-op needs some fine tuning
8 percent said cash problems are at the root of all the Co-op's problems
1 person said the Co-op is fine as it is.

 

Some significant information from the meeting

The Co-op is paying $90,000 to $100,000 a month to its 47th store leaseholder (Certified Grocers). This is an unbreakable long-term lease.

The Co-op leaders said they expect to be out of 53rd Street by the end of the year and to have 47th leased by the end of first quarter 2007.

A huge financial hole was opened when the new 47th Store ran a million dollar overrun related to its opening 1999. Also, Co-op leaders hold the 47th store was a financial drain from the beginning and would continue to be. (Some disputed this inevitability and blamed poor management.) Leadership believes they can successfully turn the financial problems around and successfully address outstanding deficiencies if the 47th site is leased. This includes muscle to leverage vendors and lessen dependence on Certified.

 

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Report in the Hyde Park Herald November 1 2006

By Erin Meyer

It was standing room only at the Neighborhood Club Oct. 25 when more than 100 people filled a room to weigh in on the future of the struggling Hyde Park Co-op. The Hyde Park-Kenwood Community Conference called the meeting and assembled a panel to discuss the Co-op and what might be done to improve its standing in the neighborhood.

"People want the Co-op to be a really good grocery store," Sadie Bill Gerstein, one of the panelists and former owner of Mr. G's, which became the 53rd Street Co-op. "If it cannot do what people want it to do, should it then dissolve?"

The panel also included current Co-op Board President Claudia Fegan, board Vice President Jim Poueymirou and former board member Joel Gearring.

During the forum, some residents asked the Co-op to step aside and make way for a major chain like Jewel or Dominick's to fill its space in the Hyde Park Shopping Center. One resident suggested moving the whole operation into the 47th Street store, while others lobbied the Co-op to find a new produce vendor.

Challenging some of the harshest critics, April Hall, a young mother new to the neighborhood, said, "For those of you who have the money, you can take your SUV's and go somewhere else to shop."

Another devoted member suggested everyone in the room go to the Co-op the following day and buy $30 in shares to help keep the 64-year-old institution above water.

Central to much of the discussion was the Co-op's dismal financial situation. With the sale of the 53rd Street store standing vacant for more than a year after it closed, many questioned whether the Co-op could ever become solvent. "We will be able to better serve the community once we get these financial albatrosses from around our necks," Poueymirou said. He reminded the audience that chain stores would be far less involved in Hyde Park. "The Jewel and Dominick's are not going to help your Girl Scout or Boy Scout troops," Poueymirou said.

Gearring called for pay cuts across the board for the general manager and senior staff to stem part of the loss. General Manager Carl Waggoner did not attend the meeting.

Fegan was encouraged by the meeting's turnout. "Participation is the biggest thing the Co-op is lacking," Fegan said. "We had a board meeting earlier this week. No members were present."

Prior to the question and answer session, local real estate broker and long-time Co-op member Winston Kennedy gave an overview of the Co-op's history in Hyde Park. Gabriel Piemonte, a member of last year's Co-op election committee, spoke to the work of the cooperative movement nationwide. Both expressed support for the struggling grocer. Kennedy cited the Co-op's long record of community involvement and its progressive stance on labor relations.

Piemonte warned that the retail center, if vacated by the Co-op, would likely attract "the lowest common denominator" in terms of tenants. If the Co-op were to dissolve, it would "demonstrate an inability of our community to manage change," he said. "If we don't have this cooperative structure, if we have a blank slate, we are not going to have any say."

HP-KCC conducted a survey of those who attended. According to preliminary results, 30 percent of the surveys indicated that the Co-op should close, 27 percent said the Co-op should re-examine its purpose, 21 percent said the Co-op needs new management, 12 percent said the Co-op needs some fine tuning and 8 percent said cash problems are the root of all problems. One percent said the Co-op is fine the way it is.

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By the numbers: Results from the HPKCC Co-op Questionnaire, distributed at the October 25 forum

Here are the numerical tabulations. The many voluminous comments will be published in November Conference Reporter (mailed HPKCC members) and will be sent to the Co-op board and stakeholders and promptly posted in this website. 91 surveys were returned out of an attendance of about 120. We thank HPKCC board member Lynne Heckman for leading survey preparation and tabulation.
Note, in the change in what proportion of groceries are now bought at the Co-op compared to five years previous, look at change in 0-9% and 90-100%

  1. Are you a Co-op member? (90 responses)
    Yes: 78%, Previous: 8%, Never: 14%
  2. Number of years you have been or were a member (63 responses)
    0-1: 6%, 2-4: 16%, 5-9: 5%, 10-19: 14%, 20-29: 30%, 30+: 43%
  3. Why did you quit? (open response; not numerically tabulated)
    1. relocation
    2. lousy quality
    3. poor service
    4. no reason or benefit to continue
    5. moved away for a while
    6. quality/value not consistent with prices
  4. Where do you do your grocery shopping (91 responses, many multiple responses)
    Co-op 79%
    Hyde Park Produce 57%
    Village Foods 23%
    Harper Foods 10%
    One Stop 2%
    Whole Foods 32%
    Treasure Island 10%
    Trader Joe's 42%
    Dominick's 37%
    Moo and Oink 0%
    Jewel 27%
    Sam's 5%
    Costco 22%
    Pete's 5%
    Internet

    4%
    Other 14%

  5. What percentage of your groceries do you buy at the Co-op now? (89 responses)
    0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-70 80-89 90-100
    29% 12% 9% 7% 4% 12% 2% 6% 3% 15%

  6. 5 years ago (75 responses)
    0-9 19-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-100
    1% 5% 7% 7% 7% 8% 8% 5% 8% 44%

    0-9 10-19 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70-79 80-89 90-100
    +28% +7% +2% 0 -3 +4 -6 +1 -5 -29

  7. Age (89 responses)
    18-30: 4%, 31-45: 20%, 46-60: 30%, 41+: 45%
  8. Gender (88 responses)
    female: 60%, male: 40%
  9. Size of household (83 responses)
    1: 35%, 2: 46%, 3: 10%, 4: 4%, 5+: 1%
  10. Length of time in Hyde Park-Kenwood area (78 responses)
    Less than 5: 15%, 5-10: 9%, 11-20: 13%, 21-30: 14%, 30+: 49%
  11. Income (66 responses)
    Less than $35,000: 26%, $35,001-75,000 : 26%, $75,000+: 48%
  12. Which of the following best describes your view of the Co-op (107 responses as some answered in multiple categories)

    02%- The Co-op is just fine as it is
    13%- The Co-op needs some fine tuning
    08%- The Co-op's cash problems are the root problem
    19%- The Co-op needs new management
    28%- The Co-op needs to examine and reformulate its purpose and reorganize to fulfill that purpose
    30%- The Co-op should close and be replaced with another store.

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More letters and comments

Steve Carl, in the November 1 Herald, says expand Co-op board, reopen 47th Street.

Having attended the HPKCC's forum concerning the future of the Hyde Park Co-op, I have the following recommendations:

1) The current board of directors should appoint three to five new board members who, according to cooperative bylaws, can only be advisory with no official voting powers. These new directors should be people who hove time to do lots of research and some travel to visit successful stores t hat buy direct and sell in volume. They should make recommendations and take the other board members to visit these stores, such as Jerry's in Niles and Mark's in Whiting, Ind.

2) The Co-op must break away from Certified Grocers Foods as its produce supplier/broker. The Co-op needs to develop a new philosophy of buying the best produce and other products directly from the producers, if possible, or through accomplished brokers. Either the manager or a new paid position should develop the contracts.

3) The new expanded board should reopen the 47th Street store and keep the 53d Street store if Hyde Park Produce backs out. All of these stores could thrive with this new philosophy.

4) In order to raise the money to implement this practice, there should be a fund-raising and membership drive which can only be successful if the new philosophy is put into practice and current and potential new members are convinced of its viability. I would buy more shares if I knew that the Co-op had this goal.

5) The Co-op needs to get back to the basic goal of providing quality foods at low prices and eliminate all the frills.

If the Co-op cannot free itself from Certified, then, I believe it is a dead horse. From the attitude of the current board members at the meeting, I suspect that son I'll be doing all my local shopping at Village Foods, Hyde Park Produce and One Stop.

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Bradford Lyttle says, No reason Co-op expansion cannot be reconsidered

My parents, Charles and Marcia Lyttle, were among the 12 families who founded the Hyde Park Co-op in 1932. They were interested in the Co-op not only because they thought that it could provide produce at low prices, but also because they believed in the principles of the cooperative movement. These principles put the generation of a cooperative and mutually supportive community ahead of simply making profits.

I have been a member of the Co-op since at lest 1974. I patronize the Co-op not because it provides the best produce at the lowest prices, but because it provides reasonably good products at reasonable prices. It seems to be trying to improve its services, and it has several social service programs consistent with cooperative principles.

From the HPKCC's Oct. 25 forum on the future of the Co-op I gained the following impressions:
The Co-op's main problems are the financial burdens imposed by the closed 47th Street store and the unprofitable 53rd Street store. Lease costs of the 47th Street store amount to about $100,000 a month, or more than a million dollars a year, and the losses of the 53rd street store amount to about $10,000 a month. These losses drain away capital that might be used to improve all aspects of the parent 55ht Street store. They threaten the very existence of the main store.

Although it might be possible to manage both the 47th and 53rd Streets stores profitable, reasonably competent people have attempted to do this and failed. In view of this, it seems to me that the first priority of the Co-op should be to shed the unprofitable enterprises.

If the financial drain of th47th Street and 53rd street stores can be ended, there is every reason to believe that the 55th Street Astor not only can continue but can be improved in al respects. The money will be t here. The location of the 55th Street store is excellent. The store has a membership that is loyal and generally believes in cooperative principles. The store probably could thrive, even in the face of competition from nearby chain stores that exist solely for profit.

Putting the main store on a solid financial foundation, and keeping it there, should be a main activity of the board.

There is no reason why the expansion plans should not be considered, and even undertaken- provided t hat t he financing of t hem does not jeopardize the main store. Such plans should be regarded as experiments. The board should be willing to withdraw from them if the experiments do not work. This means not involving the Co-op in long-term leases and other, similar, legal commitments.

I do not know how the Co-op can escape from its lease for the 47th Street store. Perhaps the lease can be bought out. Possibly, a team of financial advisors could develop an economically sound plan for doing this. In any event, it seems to me essential that the Co-op shed this financial burden. If it cannot do so, it might be unable to survive.

In regard to what it sells, one product I wish the Co-op did not sell is hard liquor....

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