Food Co-op Planned for Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill?

Food Co-op = Socialist Scam

Think I'll spend the extra $.20/lb for tomatoes rather than stock shelves and scrub floors for 4 hours a week.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:17 AM

Lets keep the fascists in Park Slope, shall we.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:42 AM

EVERYONE NEEDS TO KNOW:

YEARS ago, the general membership of the Park Slope Food Coop (PSFC) had a democratic vote in favor of funding and opening another store under the same coop in FORT GREENE before the neighborhood would have been considered so upscale. The general membership did NOT want to use funds/loans to expand the existing coop location on Union at that time.

THE INCUMBANTS (read: "sinecure" holders) WHO HAVE BEEN MANAGING THE COOP FOR Y-E-A-R-S, and didn’t apparently like the idea of opening a store in a non “upscale” nabe (read between the lines) AFTER the legal vote actually went behind the membership’s back, pulled a fast one and pushed through their originally desired plan to expand the existing coop’s footprint on Union (with a substantial mortgage) instead of opening a secondary location in Fort Greene. The idea of another location opening evaporated even though the membership had voted. Some “cooperative”…more like a small collective of managers running a grocery store for its own benefit despite the membership’s expressed desires.

It can be a long walk from Union to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, esp. in bad weather

The above example is just one example of those who are permanently ensconced in the coop’s management going against the general membership’s expressed wishes and doing what it “damned” pleases.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:42 AM

A Union Market is opening in Ft. Greene.

That should help.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:47 AM

I dont necessarily need a food co op but i would really appreciate a good health food store....something like BACK TO THE LAND or Garden of Eden in the CLinton Hill/ Fort Greene Neighborhood. That would really make the neighborhood!

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:54 AM

park slope co-op = love the prices, hate the culture. love the good food, hate the long walk from ft. greene.

please, please, please open a co-op in ft. greene.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:55 AM

PS to 10:17,

You idiot...

Look, a member shift slot is a whole big 2.5 hours every four weeks (basically once a month), NOT 4hrs/wk. The shift works out to about 35 minutes of work per week and is lumped into a once a month work slot.
PLEASE don't give out incorrect info.

Also, stocking shelves or just sitting at the door while members enter scanning their IDs is not the end of the world. Basically, many of the tasks at the coop could not be considered hard work in the least (ex. of things that count as a work slot:
1) attending a general meeting
2) working a particular committee (i.e. pushing paper...maybe not even...just running your mouth for an hour or two a month
3) child care (yes, some people are way into it)...and think, wouldn't YOU like to be able to drop your 3 year old for two hours while you shop every time??? Hello!
4) food prep which means putting bulk foods in little bags and weighing them. Can be fun and there is a rockin' CD library in that area with 100s of CDs.
5) cashiering...not hard at all...I sit next to a JUDGE on my shift when I cashier.

The coop has liberal parameters for members to avoid work: pregnancy and early infant care (for both partners/parents), sick leave and post-surgery, disability, etc., etc. In fact, we have a member who is very much disabled but who WANTS to come in and work his shift.

The coop is a great place to meet all kinds of people. It has an amazingly diverse cross section of Brooklyn (as well as other boros...in fact, some members hail from upstate, others from Nassau and Suffolk).

AND BY THE WAY, ORGANIC TOMATOES WERE 59-CENTS OR 79-CENTS PER POUND THE LAST TWO SUMMERS. TRY FINDING THAT AT (F)AMISH MARKET, WHOLE FOOLS OR ANY OTHER MARKET INCLUDING "THE" MET, PATHMARK AND CO.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 10:56 AM

To the extent a suit from Garden of Eden, Union Market, or any other high end grocer is listening:

THERE IS MONEY IN CLINTON HILL AND WE WILL SPEND IT ON GOOD TOMATOES, BUTTERMILK, FAGE, MORBIER AND CILANTRO

Thanks for your time.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:04 AM

Oragnic Tomatoes = Socialist Tomatoes

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:20 AM

i heard that the green grape was opening a food store. any truth to that?

would still like to a real gourmet market in fort greene. but no co-op! everyone i know who's tried it had gotten fed up.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:23 AM

"but no co-op! everyone i know who's tried it had gotten fed up."

there are 18,000 members of the park slope food co-op who have tried it and not gotten fed up.

santa doesn't like quitters.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:32 AM

A food co-op in FG/CH would be great.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:32 AM

The work schedule at the co-op would be manageable IF there were open slots. Their policies are rooted in a time when the co-op had far fewer members, yet nothing has changed.

There are thousands of members but only so many hours in the day, yet the co-op has held onto its policy of making its members work 2.75 hours every four weeks. It would make sense to have a policy that changed as the membership levels rose above certain threshholds. (They could change it to one work shift every five weeks, or have people work for only two hours every four weeks, for example.)

I often wind up sitting around doing nothing even when I explicitly ask for something to do, simply because there are too many people and not enough work slots. (New members, good luck getting a work slot that doesn't start at 6:00 AM.) I don't mind doing work, but having to show my face at the co-op simply because the powers that be can't update their scheduling system or revisit old policies is building resentment in this co-op member.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:34 AM

If the co-op is so environmentally friendly, why do they leave their neon sign on all the time?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:37 AM

Note to 10:56 -

1) attending a general meeting
2) working a particular committee (i.e. pushing paper...maybe not even...just running your mouth for an hour or two a month
3) child care (yes, some people are way into it)...and think, wouldn't YOU like to be able to drop your 3 year old for two hours while you shop every time??? Hello!
4) food prep which means putting bulk foods in little bags and weighing them. Can be fun and there is a rockin' CD library in that area with 100s of CDs.
5) cashiering...not hard at all...I sit next to a JUDGE on my shift when I cashier.

All things most people would rather not do even if it is for $.79 tomatoes

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:38 AM

Everyone I know has ever joined has quit the co-op.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:40 AM

Food Coop = Brainwashing, Hippie, Hairy armpit,tree-hugging, pot smoking, self-righteous, communist cult.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:45 AM

you just named all of my favorite things, 11:45.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:52 AM

Has anyone else noticed that everyone in New York smokes pot these days?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:55 AM

the food coop is dumb. order from fresh direct.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 11:59 AM

Organic tomatoes will be worthless once AY is built.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:13 PM

fresh direct is for lazy people.

some of us still like to shop, leave our homes and interact with other human beings.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:13 PM

Some of us find more fun in interacting with people in non-shopping or working environments.

What I don't get is, if Fresh Direct is evil for all of its truck deliveries, how can the coop responsibly accept members who have to drive to pick up their food?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:20 PM

because the food co-op doesn't DEPEND on trucks to make deliveries.

and most people picking up their groceries aren't driving 5 mile per gallon tanks to the food co-op. and then leaving them sit idled pouring smoke into the air and leaving behind tons of boxes, which they don't take back to recycle.

any other questions?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:24 PM

I agree with you about Fresh Direct, Donatella.

I find it overpriced and just ok.

I did hear Union Market is opening in Ft. Greene though. It was initially a rumor, but I believe a confirmed one at this point...

Pricey, but gorgeous food.

It's a start.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:28 PM

fresh direct is for lames. get up off your ass and shop local, jerk.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:30 PM

Please leave all the hairy armpit, Birkenstock wearing, baby breeders on the other side of Fulton. Fort Greene is going to do fine without a co-op. We have a farmer's market and the Greene Grape Provision is opeining soon. I rather pay a little more for my food then have to deal with the political ideologies of fascism.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:41 PM

Why do people drive so much in a city with such extensive public transportation?

I lived in Ft. Greene for six years and, you're right, it does take organization. I tried the Pathmark, but that was the most disorganized grocery store I had ever encountered. Hence, I took to lugging groceries on the train, which really isn't all that bad. If you enjoy good food, it's worth the work.

Yes, I have children, so please, people, don't try that approach when justifying use of a car.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:46 PM

My fresh direct order was ALWAYS wrong and there was always at least one item which was expired.

I have banned them from my life.

Along with Starbucks.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:47 PM

The retailers are FINALLY starting to catch on.

I read yesterday that the average retail per person in the U.S. is 22 square feet of retail per person.

In NYC, it is 6 square feet.

Not sure what took so long for retailers to realize this, but I think over the next few years we are going to see a SURGE in retail in Brooklyn.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:56 PM

Freaking self-righteous losers and hippies, all of you who judge what someone else does or how someone else shops. Get a life.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:56 PM

12:56:

The majority of the people judging on this thread are the anti-co-op people you do realize.

santa hates a hypopcrite.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:59 PM

Greene grape is a rip -- 50 bucks for hudson baby bourbon? it's 42 in fucking chelsea! get real.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 12:59 PM

12:56

Someone has to judge you, cause obviously you're too inconsiderate to judge yourself.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:01 PM

Okay, now I really want to know. HOW does the coop get its deliveries without trucks? Do Sunshine and Siddharta drive out to farms in their prius and truck in produce for 1,000-plus members or what?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:13 PM

I thought the rumor that BUnion Market was opening in FG had been debunked, no?

Anyway, we have the winemongers of Green Grasp opening the Green Grasp Provisions in the former location of S. Portland Antiques. Remains to be seen how they stack up.

All in all, Garden of Eden mentioned above as well as all the other gourmet stores in NYC are ALL WAYYYY over-priced and generally have horrible labor policy, low, low, low pay, no benefits…basically horrible.

Yes, in the nabe we need a good, decent health food store with decent prices, not Balducci prices ($14.99 for a box of cookie mix?!!!). It may be that a food coop will be the only real possibility of getting a store geared to health food in FG. Listen, there are also lots of CSAs people can participate in too though I am not sure this answers residents’ food desires…certainly gets you good veggies and fruits and supports local agriculture.

Any coop opening in FG most probably cannot do so from scratch in this day and age and will need to be part of or sponsored by another well-run coop such as the PSFC. It would make sense for the PSFC to have a branch in FG/CH BUT, hello, real estate has gotten too expensive at this point. It should have happened back when the PSFC general membership voted to open a branch in FG but got finagled by the coop management.

BTW, for those who are not aware, the PSFC has 30+ employees ("member-staffers") who have a great living wage, health insurance and the benefits you would expect in "regular" jobs. It is a worker-friendly environment.

There is some WAY great food at the coop, sometimes better and fresher than you get from "gourmet" slobbermarkets.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:19 PM

Do Sunshine and Siddharta drive out to farms in their prius and truck in produce for 1,000-plus members or what?

yes.

or on bicycle.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:19 PM

regarding 10:42 AM's memory of history...

The Coop had a vote to expand that was defeated in the early 90s, then the coordinators pushed through a second vote, changed the perameters of the process to favor their opinion, and the membership voted to expand to it's current size.

As an option, a group working to defeat the effort had pushed an option to create multiple sites, including Ft. Greene, Bed Stuy and Cobble Hill but those options were not allowed on the ballot.

The Coordinators, to their credit, have worked for years with volunteers in other neighborhoods including Bed Stuy and East New York, to set up their own Coops. Nothing came of Bed Stuy's efforts, butEast New York's is now up and running.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:31 PM

http://www.nysun.com/article/68000

here is the article from last week on the union market in ft. greene coming this spring to fulton street.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 1:33 PM

Thanks for the update 1:31. I spewed the errors out and couldn't remember the exact details but I KNEW there was an effort years ago to open a branch of the PSFC in FG.

Now, to address the misled people writing above:

THE PSFC IS INCREDIBLY DIVERSE. FORGET DELUSIONS ABOUT HIPPIES OR WHATEVER...You would faint at the diversity there! It is ALL BROOKLYN! and the mix is FABULOUS!

It seems most members use public transportation or walk. Yes, some drive or have a friend/family or a car service pick them up if they live far but they'd probably do this for regular (i.e. Pathmark) shopping because many nabes in Brooklyn are underserved food-wise. For an example of this, check out the endless car service/vans etc. that pile up in front of Pathmark near Atlantic bringing people home all over Brooklyn.

The coop sources a LOT of vegetables, fruits and meats from the region which greatly cuts down on transportation related pollution and greenhouse gases.

And…I could have walked home from my shift last time but got ride…on a motorcycle! And the coop member who offered me the ride was a real cutey!

FLESH DISSECT is HORRIBLE. THEY JUST HAD A STRIKE BY THEIR WORKERS. THEY TREAT THEIR EMPLOYEES HORRIBLY, HAVE ILL-MAINTAINED TRUCKS THAT SPEW DIESEL FUMES, ARE V-E-R-Y NOISY AND SOMETIMES REALLY LATE IN THE EVENING…the boxes are like fast food packaging: one time short use and then into the trash. All around horrible. Sure, they’ve gotten in because the shopping choices suck.

Let’s hope the PSFC can sponsor one in FG/CH and that it is on the model of coops that allow non-member shoppers who simply pay a higher price. There are lots of food coops around the country that operate this way so they can offer the savings to members and also have an income stream to provide the community at large with high quality food…all on a basis that may make the business more stable (cheaper overhead costs, profits not getting drained out into private owners’ pockets, not for profit status, community-based and supported).

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 2:39 PM

I'd be surprised if DK Holland didn't know this already, but the Park Slope Food Coop actually ORIGINATED in Ft. Greene, around 1970 or 1971. They had a spot on Myrtle sort of near where the SNAP office is up by Washington Park (which was still called Cumberland Ave. back then) and they also had a branch in the dorms at Pratt (which sucked. Tell me honestly, at 3 am when you have a deadline, which would you rather have? A rutabaga and some brown rice and chamomile tea or a can of coke and a butterfingers? Thought so.) I kept as far away from them as possible back in the day but I was a proto punk at that time, I just didn't know it. I have proudly never owned a Birkenstock.

They did move to Park Slope very soon after they were founded, I am not certain why but the crime environment in those days probably had a little to do with it.

While I won't use the Park Slope food coop largely because it's in Park Slope, if they opened a branch here I'd be happy to participate. As long as all the members are Jogging Stroller 700 dollar italian eyeglass wearing ipod listening hipsters ; )

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 3:27 PM

Park Slope sucks. Why would any neighborhood want to be like Park Slope?

Suck it, slopers.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 4:41 PM

I live in ft. greene and I don't want a food-coop here. 4:41 is right, park slope sucks and I don't want my neighborhood to have anything in common with park slope. Bunch of tree-hugging, pot smoking, obnoxious, wealthy hippies. Damn slopers!

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:08 PM

I live in ft. greene and I don't want a food-coop here. 4:41 is right, park slope sucks and I don't want my neighborhood to have anything in common with park slope. Bunch of tree-hugging, pot smoking, obnoxious, wealthy hippies. Damn slopers!

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:08 PM

I live in ft. greene and I don't want a food-coop here. 4:41 is right, park slope sucks and I don't want my neighborhood to have anything in common with park slope. Bunch of tree-hugging, pot smoking, obnoxious, wealthy hippies. Damn slopers!

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:08 PM

The What is a fucktard and an asshat.

The What is a sloper

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:10 PM

The What is a fucktard and an asshat.

The What is a sloper

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:11 PM

What's the point of badmouthing a co-op in FG/CH? If you don't want to shop there, shop someplace else. Some of you are just looking for something to be against. It's not like they're going to shut down your beloved rancid meat retailer to open the co-op; there would just be another option. Why's that so bad?

Guaranteed, every thread, someone is whining about brownstone inflation or broker mendacity or auto owners or racism or gentrification or some shit. Bunch of fucking whiners.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:27 PM

BY THE WAY...

I NOTICED IMMEDIATELY THIS MORNING LOOKING AT THIS THREAD THAT THE PHOTO IS OF APPLES AND THE SIGN PICTURED IS FOR TOMATOES...

GO FIGURE...GENETIC ENGINEERING?

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:52 PM

Yes, 11:34 AM,
The coop has so many members that often we don't really have much to do during the shift. A lot of people use part of their time to shop depending.

Yes, it would be nice if the shift time were shortened or the frequency dropped down to less than once/month. It's complicated to work these things out and keep it equitable (remember, shifts are every 4 weeks which divides the year up evenly) and coherent (if the shifts are 2 or 1.5 hours long, there may be way too much coming and going/shift changes...)...who knows...

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 5:55 PM

the park slope food co-op is not hurting for members. i know that for sure.

i really don't understand the hatred for the neighborhood. it seems to get so intense on this board and it makes no sense to me.

park slope is a really nice neighborhood. one of the best around.

there are lots of other great ones also. this is nyc. all the neighborhoods are great and contribute to the fabric of this amazing city.

how about appreciating that once in a while.

people who've chosen to raise children in a city are not trying to be snobby. they are just trying to do their best.

do a little shopping...

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 6:34 PM

Happy Holidays from a happy member of the PSFC...who lives in FG...
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
Happy Holidays!
Great holiday food shopping at the coop! OMG!

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 7:12 PM

I would welcome a co-op in Clinton Hill. I don't need expensive, gourmet-just fresh, reasonably priced. Fairway is a hike though I love it. If the co-op comes I'm there.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 7:31 PM

5:52 - Those are definately tomatoes, they just look like apples due to their organic nature. Far inferior to the delicious and just as healthy genetically enhanced tomatoes you are probably used to.

Organic ones are typically deformed, discolored and bug infested, with rot marks. You can tell by the big bulging one in the front with a huge brown streak down the center that they are definately organic tomatoes.

Posted by: guest at December 21, 2007 9:30 PM

Holy shit. So I just went to Union Market in Park Slope for the first time ever. I was visiting a friend in the neighborhood and stopped in to get cheese and crackers. HOW UNDERWHELMING!! The way people on this site have been talking about Union Market, you'd think it was Zabar's or something. Shocking! It is tiny, has limited variety of the few things it stocks, and is expensive. You people are EASY.

Posted by: guest at December 22, 2007 3:50 PM

Dk Holland is the landlord for Oleas's. If she really gace a rats ass she would use that as the coop.

Posted by: guest at December 22, 2007 8:45 PM

It's true, 3:50. Because Brooklyn has such terrible food markets, we get too impressed with places I'd have rejected in L.A. or Atlanta as not being good enough. It's ridiculous. I also agree Fresh Direct sucks. We've tried them only a few times and in our last order, half the produce was rotting. No joke. It's like, "Fresh" is in your name, you idiots. So we'll order from them no more.

Business owners in Brooklyn are really really slow to take advantage of the new population of consumers here. I have no pity for any that go out of business. If big chains do better than the small ones who refused to keep growing and improving to serve the new residents then fine, bring on the big chains. Ozzies sucks. Disgustingly filthy, terrible slow service, and bad coffee. I'd rather Ozzies be a Starbucks anyday it's so bad. I'll say it. (Though my first choice would be for all Ozzies locations to become Gorilla coffee.) As for the co-op, it's too cultish. Another form or organized religion. I'm just not a "joiner" that way. I support buying local and organic and all that, the idea of it being so political and a "membership" is a turnoff. The tone of the defenders of the co-op here was as self-righteous as I'd expect. Pass.

Posted by: guest at December 23, 2007 12:29 AM

After years of waffling, I finally joined the PSFC in November. And quit in December. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't the work that ultimately did me in (even though I had only done one shift), or the self-righteous citizens of the People's Republic of Organica. The place was too effing crowded. It was like shopping in Russia before the wall came down and if the crowds and the narrow aisles weren't annoying enough, all the extra workers clogging the aisles stocking items made it impossible to navigate. I kept hearing about these secret pockets of time when it wasn't crowded, but now believe that to be a bit of coop legend. Sort of like the fact that the prices are amazing or the produce is sooo wonderful. To be fair, I joined in the fall. Who knows what splendor would have awaited had I hung in till spring and summer. But the produce was pretty much eh. (they even had moldy strawberries, just like Key Foods!) The prices are good overall, but not good enough IMHO to put up with the workshift and the anxiety involved in shopping there. Some things are even more expensive there than other places. Gasp. I'm glad I did it because now I know. It's a bit of a good thing, and a lot of hype. I think it was probably much better before people like me, who really don't give too much of a crap about the plight of local farmers or whether my chestnuts are organic, were members. So I decided to do everyone a favor and get out of their way so they can maybe shop in peace.

Posted by: guest at December 24, 2007 10:49 AM

But 5:17 people do get to say why they don't want to join the food co-op. We are part of the larger Park Slope and/or Brooklyn community, the food co-op and its members reside within that larger community, so the rest of us get to judge it and comment on it all we want. It is good to hear stories from the inside like 10:49's comments, for those who are trying to figure out if they are a good fit for the co-op or not.

Posted by: guest at December 25, 2007 11:18 AM

I'm not hugging a tree and, despite the crowds (and because of the crowds sometimes!), I really like the coop!

Vive le Coop!

Posted by: guest at December 26, 2007 4:33 PM

I love the Park Slope Food Co-op and it would be fantastic to have one closer to home. I'm a member who lives in Fort Greene and I'm sick of making the trek on my bike or renting a Zipcar just for groceries. But it's worth it.

The PSFC has a bad rep and I don't think it's deserved. Sure people can get overly concerned about the rules, but it's all with the broader goal of keeping a good thing going. You wouldn't believe how satisfying it is to shop with the knowledge that the prices are set only as high as they need to be to keep the place running.

The only problems I see with the PSFC are because it's got too many members! The complaints here are that it's too crowded, there aren't enough shifts, there aren't enough things to do on the shifts. It's obviously in the interest of members and managers to help open one here for these reasons.

People love to bitch about it, but you just need to look at the increasing numbers to see why it's worth joining. 12,500 Brooklynites can't all be wrong about something that's been thriving since 1973.

By the way, the biggest thing I was struck by after joining the co-op was just how diverse it is. Anyway writing it off as a bunch of tree-huggers hasn't set foot in the place. It's a cross-section of Brooklyn full of people who want good food and are willing to pitch in to get it.

Bring on the Fort Greene Food Co-Op and just watch how many people sign up (the people who don't can just let it be).

Posted by: guest at December 30, 2007 4:29 PM

I believe that Clinton Hill/Ft. Greene could benefit greatly from a Co-op. While I'm glad to see local business like the Greene Grape expand, what we need is affordable sundries and produce not an upscale specialty store.

While there is money in the our neighborhood, its just not the same density of wealth you now find in park slope. In CH and FG retail rents are growing faster than the overall wealth in the neighborhood -- there is a longstanding community here that is not as wealthy as all the newcomers. This coop should aim to serve the entire community. For any enterprise to succeed it will need either high prices or volume. I vote for volume.

Logistics are the key here, and to think that we could realize the savings that PS coop passes along without buying in bulk they way they can is optimistic at best. If FG/CH coop could form a buying partnership with the established PS coop, we could realize real buying and shipping efficiencies and piggyback on what they've learned over the years about organization. They do have great prices, organic prices that can BEAT the conventional prices in CH and FG. The real question is how do you get membership from everyone -- creating an environment that is inviting to the whole neighborhood, and therefore a product mix that may have broader appeal.

Ultimately the grocery business is all about relationships and logistics. Its really hard to do well and price cheap. Having a committed minority won't neccessarily guarantee success unless there is real knowledge and organization behind it. Reading all the negative comments about Fresh Direct you realize that a store only gets a few shots and then it loses customers -- thats why whole foods does well, they know how to make it work. You don't need to reinvent the wheel, just make it a little better and push on.

So there are things people don't like about the Park Slope Food coop - how can you change those things but pull in what is good.

And if you can't piggyback on PS, what realistically can this store be? What realistically can the neighborhood support? With all these new stores coming in, is there still room for an enterprise like this? And truthfully, good produce is expensive - even on the wholesale market. The PS Co-op doesn't always buy the 'best' produce but what is the 'best' after all? Their markups are low - and they've figured it out. They've done a great job - but its really hard - and something the group organizing really needs to consider.

Posted by: guest at January 4, 2008 11:06 AM

I have worked/shopped at the Park Slope Food Coop for 5 years while living in Clinton Hill and my experience there has beengreat! To me it's not just the produce and the prices, but a chance to make a community committed to supporting local farmers and good food.

Posted by: guest at February 21, 2008 1:19 AM