I help to manage the
finances for the last remaining
food co-op on
Long Island. This co-op operates a
convenience store sized food
retail outlet plus a
thrift store. Our co-op also provides
rehabilitation
services for the severly
mentally ill and
developmentally disabled.
When our co-op says it is "
non for profit", we mean it. The
revenue from the food and thrift store barely covers minimum business expenses such as the
telephone,
computer supplies,
promotional material, and the
salaries of those who work there (excluding the rehabilitation clients.) While a
Board of Directors attends to the
legal and sophisticated
financial operation of the co-op, two
bookkeepers keep tabs on the day to day cash flow through the system.
Most food is ordered in bulk, either directly by co-op members or by the store manager. Lots are usually obtained from warehouses that specialize in stocking food
cooperatives. Most
grocery products are of the "no frills"
economy brand variety; there is also a wide selection of
vegetarian,
vegan, and
organic foodstuffs.
Our co-op (barely) thrives on its ability to provide its
patrons with rare items not found at the local mass retail
supermarket. For example, our store stocks a
zillion different types of
soy protein, variety not usually found at the
A&P. Most members, including board members, use the co-op as a way to supplement their
diets with interesting items, find
knicknacks in the thrift shop, and congregate around the
cash register as if the center of the store was an
agora. This, I think, is the most important part of a
buying club. Co-ops bring people together who happen to enjoy a good deal on
fava beans.