by Anya Firszt, General Manager
Welcome August! Last month was a busy one, and this month is shaping up to be equally as busy.
Last month we conducted our annual Board election and this month we welcome our newly elected Board members. I’d like to thank you, our Owners, for exercising your ownership rights and taking the time to vote! I’d also like to thank those Owners who chose to run for the Board.
We had four candidates running to fill three vacant seats. The votes were tallied and announced at our Special Ownership Meeting on July 21. Your newly elected Board members are:
• Tatiana Dennis: 2,158 votes
• Michael Chronister: 1,427 votes
• Carol Weidel: 1,416 votes
Thank you to the candidate who ran but was not elected, Max Koch.
A few details about voter turnout, this year a total of 2,583 ballots were cast, of those 2,560 were valid. This represents a turnout of 8.08% of total Ownership voting in this year’s election, up 2.64% over last year’s election turnout. Again, I want to thank you all 2,583 Owners for choosing to exercise your ownership rights and taking the time to vote!
A special thanks goes out to our two outgoing Board members, Stephanie Ricketts and Caryn Murphy. Thank you both for your years of service to our Cooperative.
Annual Meeting
Our Annual Meeting has changed venues a couple of times over the last four decades from the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center to our Willy East’s parking lot to McPike Park, and again this year we hosted a virtual meeting because meeting in person was not an option. There were about 100 Owners (including the Board, Board candidates, and staff) in attendance, and I want to thank each one of you for being there!
In the coming months, the Board and management will be discussing what format our next Annual Meeting will take. I imagine it will be a hybrid of some kind, offering in-person and virtual participation for increased access and flexibility. Stay tuned for updates.
Special note: I shared at the Annual Meeting and I want to reemphasize that we are actively monitoring sales in all of our bulk categories. We will bring on more options where we see customer demand warranting it. Our bulk departments are now fully open without restrictions of any kind, but sales have decreased 40% from pre-pandemic levels—which makes bulk the area of our store hardest hit by the pandemic.
If you want to see us expand our bulk selection, or even continue carrying the selection we have now, you should shop as much as you can in our bulk aisle, and urge others to do so as well! It is a solid sales base that ultimately drives our product mix.
On the near horizon
We have budgeted for a few capital expenditures and improvements this year. Willy West’s hot bar is being replaced with a new, smaller unit this month! West’s reverse osmosis bulk water dispenser can now be found in the bulk aisle. Willy East’s produce dry racks will be replaced with similar units (as we have at West) in the coming month (or two). Also at East, the registers are scheduled to be replaced and the salad bar is
under consideration for replacement.
We are in year two of our first union contract with the United Electrical Radio and Machine Workers of America, also known as the UE. This fall, we will begin negotiating our second contract with the UE for possible ratification in early 2022. Stay tuned for updates and milestones as we move through the bargaining process and contract renewal.
Home delivery update
We can now deliver groceries ordered on shop.willystreet.coop to Sun Prairie and the whole 53590 zip code (as long as the order is not placed on a mobile device).
NEW PROMOTION
Each Thursday from August 19 through December 28, Willy Street Co-op Owners get 10% off all fresh produce when they buy at least $25 worth—even fruits and vegetables on sale!
Special store hours
No special hours of operation this month, but early next month, on the first Monday in September, we celebrate Labor Day. All stores are open until 7:00pm on that day.
Until next month…