Whole Foods Vs. Food Coop
Today the Observer runs a story on the impending arrival of Whole Foods and its possible threat to the Park Slope Food Coop. “Whole Foods is more of an ideological challenge to the Park Slope Food Coop, the headquarters of arch-Park Slope living, than it is a threat to business,” states the article, which points…
Today the Observer runs a story on the impending arrival of Whole Foods and its possible threat to the Park Slope Food Coop. “Whole Foods is more of an ideological challenge to the Park Slope Food Coop, the headquarters of arch-Park Slope living, than it is a threat to business,” states the article, which points out the the Coop has a higher profit margin than Whole Foods. Writer and Park Slope resident Amy Sohn vowed not to make the switch from the Coop to Whole Foods, but hoped the Coop members “who wind up on the blacklist” would. She says the people who will enjoy the Whole Foods most “Want to replicate their sort of Mall of America experience in New York City, so they love that you can have a Whole Foods in Brooklyn.” Like it or not, the site will be built: the article reveals an Austin-based construction company will begin work 2011 and will open the store late 2012.
Whole Prudes: Austin Comes to Gowanus [Observer]
Altervoce, High Falls by any chance??
gagneur & heather,
“what the PS Food Coop pays its workers vs. what Whole Food will” is somewhat irrelevant because the coop has 15,000 member/workers. There are also full time employees at the coop – general coordinators, and people who work in the office, receiving, buyers, etc. – and it’s actually a very good gig for what it is. I’m sure the overall compensation (wages + benefits) is more generous than what whole foods employees will get.
Whole foods and the food coop? Such an easy way to generate hits.
I’m not worried about an economic hit to the coop (I’m not a member, but they are doing quite well, with lots of members from well outside the Slope and more people trying to join all the time, too). The interesting thing about the coop is the way it clings to its work rules despite a surfeit of members compared with the needed jobs. Rather than lightening the workload, they keep inventing jobs. To me, that id the ideological challenge — will some people give up the coop ethos for relief from the work requirements and easy parking.
Flatbush coop does not mandate work, btw. But it is silly and manipulative of the media to keep playing these types of things up as important culture clashes, rounding up snarky writers to be our own little Fran Liebowitzes. There are 15,000 co op members. Pretty small sample size quoted in the article.
altervoce, why did the co-op tell you to get lost? I thought it wasn’t that big a deal to join (at least it wasn’t when I looked at joining 17 or 18 years ago).
i’m not all crazy dibs
I live in Park Slope and hate pretty much everything about the Co-op. Namely, the people I’ve encountered who “work” there.
Stories like this make me SO incredibly happy to pay extra for my groceries just so that I don’t have to make contact with these psychos.
LOL dirty hipster…..and her claim to fame is writing “Sex and the City: Kiss and Tell”
hahahahhahahahha
I agree with randolph.
Hell has frozen over.
Come on, the writer was just looking to write a story that would fit the stereotype that ALL PS people are coop loving tree huggers who hate everything that that doesn’t fit the stereotype.