Is Breadroot Headed for a New Home?
A month ago Breadroot began considering the possibilities of a bigger store, with a restaurant/bakery/deli included. Veggies was for sale and the BoD began crunching numbers to see how it might work to acquire their business. On one hand things appeared favorable, Veggies is a good business and if we were to take it over, run it like they have been running it, and add to it our produce department and enlarge the grocery selection we could have a nice operation. On the other hand the current debt burden of Breadroot is just now being reduced in meaningful amounts, and accepting a new load of debt and level of complexity with which we do business is something to be approached with caution.
After weighing the information, hearing from members about our priorities and desires as a co-op, and seeing the initial support which arrived when news of the buy-out possibility was announced, the BoD has concluded that investment of purchasing Veggies and moving our operations is not in the best interests of the co-op. Important limiting issues include lack of capital and reserve funds to maintain operations and cover unforeseen expenses during such a transition and lack of available and affordable human resources to support a larger operation. Support for our values as a cooperative, such as striving to make good food affordable for all, use of low cost special ordering and member discounts, and emphasis on food rather than "high dollar" supplements which too often replace food on the shelves of "health food" stores would be difficult to maintain in a high-rent district, where we would be constantly forced to focus on the rate at which we generate revenue.
With all of these concerns the BoD voted against pursuing the purchase of Veggies. We determined instead to make the most of our current store and enable our cooperative to grow in the best means possible.
We are continuing to meet to determine what directions of growth are most feasible and in the best service of the co-op community. We are looking to expand our shelving to offer more variety, installing a water filtering system to allow for purchase good quality water, and getting our little kitchen space up to standards to allow for regular preparation of foods. Our offerings will likely be very simple, crock-pots of soups and beans, baked goods, sandwiches etc., mostly for carry out, though possibly we could make room for a few tables for eating inside the store.
It would still be great to see more people purchasing full memberships and getting involved with volunteering at Breadroot. The extra money from membership shares purchased can be used for developing our current location, and the extra involvement will help our community grow. We can use volunteers from almost any background for tasks like store clerking, cleaning and stocking, and we are seeking to build our volunteer pool of people with expertise in various fields that would support Breadroot's capacity to function (like accounting, computers, management, legal issues, building, marketing, etc).
If you made a recent donation to Breadroot with the intent of supporting the acquisition of Veggies, we are able to honor any requests for those funds to be returned. We will also try to honor requests for the funds to be directed to specific projects within the store's goals. The remaining funds will be used for expanding our operations here and also for creating a savings pool from which we will be able to draw when opportunities for growth come our way in the future.