Park Slope Food Co-Op Kicking Ass
Fresh off the news that the Greene Hill Food Co-Op signed its lease at 18-24 Putnam Avenue, Fortune takes a look at “the rise of the grocery co-op,” focusing specifically on the Park Slope location. The PSFC is the largest consumer-owned co-op by sales in the United States, raking in $39.4 million dollars (or $6,500…
Fresh off the news that the Greene Hill Food Co-Op signed its lease at 18-24 Putnam Avenue, Fortune takes a look at “the rise of the grocery co-op,” focusing specifically on the Park Slope location. The PSFC is the largest consumer-owned co-op by sales in the United States, raking in $39.4 million dollars (or $6,500 per square foot) last year. The reason for success and the big savings? Inventory based on customer demand, requiring all members to work at the store and only allowing members to shop, and a limited selection of items within a small store footprint. And while the article says competing grocery stores have brushed off the PSFC as a one-time success story, it also notes that 200 co-ops are currently in start-up mode. That’s the largest number since the 70s!
The Rise of the Grocery Store Co-Op [Fortune]
Photo by nancyscola
heather, you can buy whatever chicken you want. the only reason i prefer chicken and eggs raised outside of cages is that their confinement in cages breeds a boatload of diseases (i.e. eggs this summer) and i don’t want to get them. maybe rather than praying for the demise of locavores, we should pray for the FDA to be more independent of big farm lobbies. just a thought.
“There was a Law and Order SVU episode where the food co-op was a cover for a hippie militant environmentalist anarchist group who raped women and tried to blow up buildings.”
Sounds like a typical plotline from that franchise. I’m chary of anyone who seems to enjoy those shows a little too much. Someone, like me, needs to write a good essay about how warped that show is.
…
And yet they can’t afford to expand to cover more areas. Have I mentioned that already? What, only eight times? Well I will mention it again: wouldn’t it make sense to take a successful franchise and business model, one that has local distributors and suppliers already in place and… open another location? Perhaps that way less of one’s members would drive to shop there?
I admit, my mixed feelings about the Greene Hill Coop are entirely due to my experiences and the anecdotes I’ve heard about the Park Slope one. That, and the prospect of working two work shifts every month (since it’s per person, not per household) is really irritating.
Actually, you know what else is irksome? Worrying about the provenance of my food. All the time. Can I just buy a chicken? No, I have to know how the bird was fed, and how far away it came from. Can I buy a pineapple? No, not ever because they don’t grow near here. Can I give the moppet a juice box? It depends, do I want to be responsible for the destruction of the planet and contribute to this country’s obesity epidemic? Etc.
I wish the backlash against the rabid locavores would come soon. It’s tiring.
According the article they mark up products 21% over the cost of the goods delivered, for a gross margin of 17%. That about $6.7 million gross.
If the delay in becoming a member is lack of work slots, then why don’t they shorten the work slots for everyone?
New SVU premiere this Wednesday!
There was a Law and Order SVU episode where the food co-op was a cover for a hippie militant environmentalist anarchist group who raped women and tried to blow up buildings.
snappy: a small group of buyers are the ones who are on the payroll
dibs: was told that the avg. margins are 11% (versus 25% in avg. grocery stores for center aisle, and 35%-45% for the refrigerated perimiters)
quote:
Bottom line is, if you want to join, and attend a membership meeting, you will eventually be accepted as a member.
they say that when you try to join a sorority as well!! and for some people no matter how many membership meetings they attend, they still wind up home alone on a friday night eating fruit loops and watching real world marathons!
*rob*