I happened to read socialist butterfly's recommended diary regarding the loss of her local grocery store. It hits close to home. Just this weekend my wife and I were driving around doing various errands, noting all the stores that have closed, and the ones that are on the top ten list of stores that may not survive to 2009.
I don't really weep for the stores themselves -- they are mostly national chain box-store places that we typically don't shop at anyway. But, I am sad for the hundreds of people in our community that have lost, and potentially could lose their jobs.
In the town in which I live, we have seen the practical destruction of locally owned businesses in favor of national chains. These chains ship MY community's wealth out of town, out of state, and even out of the country. When they close, what is left? An empty box in a strip mall, a bunch of people that are unemployed, and a community standing around wondering where all the local wealth has gone and who among them will step up to the plate to bring vitality back to the community.
The answer to the latter question could be: YOU!
Yeah, in the rural ghetto in which I live, locally owned stores have been practically wiped out by big box stores. But, the town in which I work is a different story. I'm happy to work in the city of Madison, Wisconsin. When we're not "communing with Satan" -- a popular Madison pastime according to Bill O'Reilly -- we have a very vibrant academic and artistic community; a very progressive local government and population; a population that is very tolerant of people from all walks of life. Yeah, it's pretty sweet here in "Berkeley Midwest." We have pretty low unemployment, a highly educated and affluent workforce, low crime rates, and some of the finest public schools in the nation (not to mention the University of Wisconsin, long known as a "Public Ivy League" University).
But we also have something else that many outsiders may not know about: Co-ops. Lots and lots of co-ops. We have several co-op groceries. We have co-op clothing retailers. Co-op pharmacies. Co-op health insurance companies. Co-op apartment buildings. You get the drift. There are lots of co-ops here.
Now, most Kossacks probably know what a co-op is, but there may be someone out there asking "That's great, but WTF is a co-op, anyway, and why should I care?" The short answer is that a co-op (cooperative) is essentially a business owned by its customers, and/or its employees. For most customer owned co-ops, there is usually a one-time or yearly fee to be a member. But wait! Member isn't really the right word, since that makes people think of Sam's Club or Costco or something. No, the proper term is "owner." That's right; the membership fee is actually akin to you buying a "stock" in the company. So depending on the by-laws of the co-op, you as an owner are free to vote for the board of directors, management, vote on issues affecting your co-op, see the balance sheet upon demand, and other such things. You can even run for the board of directors yourself if you wanted. Some co-ops pay a dividend, too. That is, once all the bills are paid and some money set aside for a rainy day, any money left over is redistributed to the custome... I mean owners.
One of my favorite co-ops is the Williamson Street Grocery Co-op in Madison, colloquially known as "Willy Street Co-op." It is a full-service grocery store, featuring the best produce in the city, which is, whenever possible, locally grown at family farms or even community gardens. It's also the best local source for organic, raw, and natural foods (The benefits of organic and natural are a whole other topic). The staff is the most knowledgeable and helpful of any grocery store in town. They know their product, and they have a vested interest in the bottom line of the store, as well as in serving its owners. Those employees are paid in accordance with the guidelines of the city's "living wage" program. There are no employees who are making the federal minimum wage. Every job at the co-op starts somewhere around the $10 per hour mark. Even part time employees and their partners (straight, gay or otherwise) are eligible for the co-ops health care program, itself provided by a local health-care insurance cooperative -- not a huge national insurance company. (See how this "keep money local" stuff works? There are people in this city that have a job thanks to Willy Street Co-op selecting a local insurance provider instead of AIG) In short, the employees are treated like real people who have a real stake in the co-op and the larger community as a whole.
Now, you could go to Whole Foods -- a fine store no doubt -- and with the exception of some of the more esoteric local produce, find many of the same things. But again, Whole Foods is not from this city, or state. The money spent there goes somewhere else. Just like buying your insurance from a corporate giant in New York City instead of a local company, the money does not stay in the community to support local farmers, producers, and distributors and vendors. And let’s face it; even at a place like Whole Foods, you're still just a customer and not an owner. But the most important thing to remember is that whenever money can stay in your local economy, your community, city, county and state are that much stronger.
Ok, so I hope some of you have read this and are saying to yourself "OK, this co-op stuff sounds cool. Yeah, I can see the advantage of having one over a gigantic corporate box store." But, you may also be thinking something like "God, it must be impossible to start one and have it be viable!" Or, "How am I supposed to do this?" Simple. Ask another co-op for assistance. No, I'm not kidding. Co-ops don't see one another as competitors -- they see one another as another integral part of the co-op movement. Co-ops share many things, like custom-written software for their cash registers, for instance. They share expertise. Grocery co-ops even share bargaining power though a group called the NCGA, the National Cooperative Grocer's Association. By combining forces under the umbrella of the NCGA, even the smallest co-op can take advantage of bulk discounts from vendors by combining forces with hundreds of other small co-ops.
Don't believe me? Fine, pick up the phone and call a co-op in a nearby city and tell them you're interested in starting one in your town, ask them if they would be willing to help you get started, and see what they say. You'll most likely be very surprised to hear them say something like "Sure, we'd love to help you guys out and get a co-op over on that side of town!"
You can also find help though various organizations. For instance, you could visit The University of Wisconsin's Center for Cooperatives Website
to get information on how to start a co-op, where to secure financing, how to make a business plan, and even get access to market research and trends.
Seriously, it can be done, and you can do it. Willy Street Co-op was founded in 1974 by a group of like-minded individuals who were concerned about the quality of food that was available in large grocery stores. Since then, it has gone from several people in a few hundred square foot store to a well respected local business that operates in a 9500 square foot retail facility, does millions of dollars of LOCAL business every year, employs over 100 people with good wages and benefits, and has thousands of loyal owner-customers.
So, find a group of like minded people, get some info, and rent out an empty store front and help the economy by serving your local community first!