Comments on: Proposed New Membership Options

By: New Owner-Membership Brochure - Clear Creek Food Cooperative

New Owner-Membership Brochure - Clear Creek Food Cooperative — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 21:10:40 +0000

[...] several months of careful deliberation and discussion about our new membership structure, and after great discussions with and feedback from our customers and supporters, we’ve [...]

By: Ken Ebacher

Ken Ebacher — Sun, 21 Feb 2010 04:01:48 +0000

Hi everyone! I understand the annual rebate but why not make this a simple 10% upfront membership discount for each purchase? About the membership price and other benefits, take a good look at what Blooming Foods Co-op in Bloomington, Indiana has be doing successfully for years. Check out its’ web site.

http://www.bloomingfoods.coop/

By: dori baxter

dori baxter — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 12:23:38 +0000

the $200 doesnt fit into our budget right now as I feel might be the case with many Richmond households at this time. we have bulk ordered in the past an agree with other comments that it would make the coop more “Richmond friendly” to allow non-members to bulk buy. I think the path you are on sounds good other than that.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 04:32:30 +0000

Thanks for putting this draft up for discussion. Like Suzanne, I am concerned about how college students can be a part of this new membership model. Perhaps another option would be to offer a student membership that is cheaper and has all the benefits of a regular membership except the profit payback part since the member is paying in less from the start-up. One possible way to structure this would be as a continuing $25 per semester fee that students paid as long as they were students/interested in the coop.
Many Earlham students do live in houses, however it is by no means a majority. My residence hall, for example, consists of 24 students in a dorm with a theme of community living. Three of us attended the grand opening of the coop, and many were members of the previous coop. We frequently cook together and have discussed bulk buying from the coop as an option for our group. It would be unfortunate if we could no longer be members simply because we don’t live in a house.

Thanks!
Sarah

By: Royla Cochran

Royla Cochran — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:10:20 +0000

Sounds good. Clear & consise. Thank you. It looks like you (the board) have brought this coop over a hurdle it’s been struggling with for years. And it looks like you’ve landed us on our collective feet. Congratulations and thank you very much.

I like the structuring, the feeling of more consistency ahead from year to year, the member/owner aspect, and the variety of options you offer for involvement.

Just two questions — l. I assume the bulk order mark-up remains 25% for members?
2. You say the Pioneer level would have the same benefits as the “Regular Member-Owners” — that includes refundability? You refer to it as a “special gift” so I just wanted to clarify that.

Thanx again. It gets more exciting every day. The store looks great. Even with our “just-starting-out inventory” it’s nicely arranged and inviting looking. And I have great faith in our manager!

By: Marisa

Marisa — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:37:28 +0000

I agree with Suzanne. $2oo is too much even for a house to split, especially considering that a group of people is only in a house together for a semester or two. I strongly urge you to consider a temporary student membership, $20 or so a year, and/or make bulk orders available to all.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 13:47:57 +0000

I also am very concerned about the $200 membership fee. Even if it is refundable, I think such a fee would exclude many people in the Richmond community from becoming members–and also from shopping at the Co-op. Until recently I was a member of a co-op that charged a one-time refundable $60 fee and anyone could place a bulk order regardless of membership. I think lowering the membership fee and allowing bulk ordering by nonmembers would help to make the co-op a more welcoming place to the average Richmond resident.

By: Seth Herr

Seth Herr — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:13:47 +0000

I agree with Suzanne, yearly membership should be an option. Any other plan (so far proposed) doesn’t make sense for college students.

The concept of passing down membership for houses doesn’t make sense because students shift houses EVERY YEAR. If you moved would you want the money that you had spent suddenly nullified? And people do live in the dorms, so they would be out of luck. If you had the 50 dollar quarterly option expanded to college students as a 50 dollar yearly option they would still have the possibility of becoming full members and 50 dollars is manageable for all the students who would be interested in bulk orders.

The proposed house option is not a good idea at all. There are multiple houses with more than 10 people, students generally do not have any sense of ownership of their houses (so why would they purchase something for the future of something they’ll be leaving?) and it would be very confusing for everyone. THERE NEEDS TO BE A PERSONAL OPTION for college students that costs less and a fifty dollar fee would be totally manageable. The share of the profits would be reduced for people with this option. This would be a steady supply of money for the co-op.

By: Kari

Kari — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 02:32:45 +0000

I share Suzanne’s concerns and think that a college house membership is not really a good option. Those who buy in the first year can’t get it back necessarily, and it’s a big outlay for a college student, even divided by 5. Perhaps Earlham College could buy a Pioneer Membership to allow students to buy in bulk? Or the college could buy a Pioneer Membership *and* students who work a certain amount a month can get bulk ordering and other advantages?

By: Chris Hardie

Chris Hardie — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:06:06 +0000

Jim: my understanding is that the 20% would be of the total profit available for redistribution, and that a member’s refund would be based on the amount of money they’d spent that year at the Coop. It’s helpful to see that we need to move from that broad stroke description to some details - thanks.

Amy: if you and Kurt disagree at a meeting, we will allow you to use our “Phone a Friend” option that will break the tie and decide how your vote is cast. Thanks for the suggestion about the lifetime discount for Pioneering Members.

Suzanne: thanks for sharing these concerns! One scenario we’re considering is allowing a college house (at least in the Earlham context) to buy a share together and pass it down to subsequent members. This would allow students to split the $200 amongst 3-5 people (?) and not have to renew it each year. Since students living in houses seem like the significant portion of EC students who would buy in bulk from the Coop, would that help? We’ll keep thinking about alternatives for other students - your suggestions are much appreciated.

Chris