by Brendon Smith, Director of Marketing & Communications
Willy Street Co-op is a consumer cooperative with about 34,000 Owners, and we gather information about the needs and wants of these Owners in a variety of ways—simple sales data (are you buying more or less of certain products), customer comments, comments and direct messages on social media, emails, requests and questions posed to staff members, etc. We also issue a survey invitation via register receipt to randomly selected customers. We call these our customer experience surveys, and they ask questions about your experience in the store that day: How clean was the store? Did you find the products you were looking for? Were you greeted by your cashier? They’re very helpful in determining where we could improve the in-store shopping experience for our customers.
In March of this year, we published our Owner Survey. It takes a big picture approach, beyond your experience during any one day at any one store; it wants to know how well you think the Co-op reflects the values that we say guide us, and whether we’re going in the direction you want it to go. This year, 493 Owners answered these questions, a far lower number than the almost 1,300 Owners who completed it in February of 2023. We will be making some changes to how we inform Owners about it when we issue the survey again in 2027 in hopes of improving the response rate.
The survey was available to be completed online as well as in our print newsletter or in our stores. At the beginning of April, we sent off the results to the UW–Madison Survey Center, which processed the responses for us. The Board of Directors and senior management has reviewed the information, and now we’ll share a summary with you.
Co-op Communication
The first question was about the content and frequency of our communication with Owners about changing hours, new services, sales, and other news. Most of the respondents are satisfied with both the content and frequency of this information. We will continue to look for ways to provide customized options for what information you receive and how often you receive it.
What Would Cause You to Shop More at the Co-op?
The number one response this year, as in previous years, was to offer more lower-priced products. There is somewhat of a conflict between this response and the next second- and fourth-highest rated responses: increased selection of local products, and increased selection of natural/organic products. Local, natural, and organic products tend to cost more than conventionally produced and/or national brand products due to factors such as ingredient quality, worker treatment, sustainability of packaging, and economies of scale. Our process of considering new brands and products takes into account all these different factors and others, including price. We’re always looking to accomplish all of these goals as best we can.
Many respondents chose the “other” option and shared a wide variety of responses.The most frequently mentioned one by far was opening another store (although locations varied greatly). Others were more consistency of product selection between stores, lower prices overall, fewer products out of stock, improvements to our online shopping (shop.willystreet.coop) and delivery service, and dried fruit in bulk.
Having said all of that, there is certainly room for improvement. We are reviewing all subcategories of products to make sure that we have a variety of price ranges available. When each of us consider whether or not to buy a product, there are some must-have characteristics, some that are a plus but not critical, and some we don’t particularly care about—I may place price above sustainability, or organic status above local status, or vice versa. We’re catering to a wide audience with a wide range of interests, as is shown in the survey results.
Pursuing Our Vision & Mission
Vision
Willy Street Co-op is a local community partner that nourishes a sustainable, accessible, and equitable food system where everyone can participate.
Mission
Cultivate and empower community, customers, employees, and suppliers through cooperative principles and practices.
If you can’t recite our mission and vision statements off the top of your head (I certainly can’t), you can find it at the top of the next page.
Most of the respondents feel that we’re on track with how well we’re living up to these statements of our values. The reasons why Owners responded as they did to this question ranged from the high level of support for local vendors to that fact that accessibility can sometimes be hindered by high prices. These values help guide all our decisions from what kind of products to put on our shelves to what kind of community events to sponsor to the kind of people we hire.
Prioritizing Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Over two-thirds of respondents felt that we prioritized diversity, equity, and inclusion very well or extremely well; four percent felt that we either prioritized it slightly well or not at all well. Like our shoppers, the respondents primarily identified their background as white or Caucasian. When looking exclusively at responses from Owners who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African-American; Hispanic or Latino/a/e; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; and/or Middle Eastern or North African, the percentages are lower, but more than two-thirds of the respondents felt we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion very well or extremely well. The portion of respondents who felt we prioritized it slightly well or not at all well was 10%. The primary reasons why those who rated us neutrally or negatively did so and offered explanations were because they reported not seeing much diversity in our customers, staff, and/or management.
As an employer, one of the Co-op’s strategic initiatives is to recruit and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the communities we serve. We continue to prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion as part of our work to become an employer of choice.
Top Three Social Issues
Willy Street Co-op does more than sell groceries—each year we:
- work with small local vendors to offer them a place to sell their products
- give local nonprofits more than $100,000 in donations and sponsorships from us, and another $300,000+ that we collect from generous customers (through
Community Shares of Wisconsin) - collaborate with other cooperatives
- donate thousands of pounds of food to food pantries
- provide classes on a variety of topics from meditation to nutrition to cooking
- We asked which three social issues we should focus on, knowing that we can’t focus on all issues equally. Like in the previous survey, the majority of respondents want us to focus on supporting local, sustainable agriculture, promote sustainable food & product packaging/recycling, and addressing local hunger problems. This year both addressing local hunger problems and supporting efforts to protect/improve the environment both increased in importance compared to what we heard from the 2023 Owner Survey.
Last year we held our first single-use plastic audit, began the work to bring back bakery cases to the stores, and increased our support of local food pantries with additional donations because of what you told us on the 2023 Owner Survey, and we’ll keep going with that work.
Top Three Reasons You’re An Owner
The responses for this question were once again similar to what we heard in 2023. Supporting local food growers and supporting a local grocer were the top two for both surveys. About one-third of the products we sell are local, and we offer more than 5,000 local products—local is a big deal for us! The number of local Wisconsin-based grocery stores shrank last year, as SpartanNash bought Metcalfe’s Market, and SpartanNash itself looks like it will be purchased by C&S Wholesale Grocers. Whole Foods is, of course, owned by Amazon. Kroger owns Pick ‘n Save and Metro Market. Your Co-op is owned by you, so the business couldn’t be bought out by a competitor or venture capitalist without you voting for it!
“A belief in Willy Street Co-op’s mission and vision” edged out “access to certain products not available elsewhere” in this survey compared to the previous one. Some of the more popular choices for “other” reasons include food quality (particularly of the produce), the variety of bulk options, and options to reduce/avoid plastic.
What Else Would You Like to Tell Us?
Many of you said some very nice things about Co-op staff—thank you! Although we conduct these surveys to measure how well we’re doing in a variety of areas and to see where we need to improve, it’s gratifying to hear how much of what we do is seen and appreciated. On behalf of all Co-op staff, thank you for those kind words. I’m looking forward to sharing this part with them especially.
There was also some constructive feedback that didn’t seem to fit elsewhere—the main points raised were about reducing plastic, lowering prices, and more consistency in the product mix at the three stores.
Thank you!
Thank you to all who completed the survey—we appreciate the time you took and the thoughtfulness you put into your responses. If you’re an Owner, this is YOUR Co-op, and we are always looking for ways to have it better reflect everything our Owners wish it could be.
Our last question on the survey was “Is there anything else that you would like to tell us?” Here’s a selection of comments and suggestions in response that represent some of those most frequently given. Some have been edited for space constraints.
I do not like that Willy co-op does not have product uniformity among the 3 locations. I often have to shop at all the locations depending on what is available at one location but not the others. Frustrating!
Each of our stores has a unique footprint (size of store) and is located in different areas of town. Our shoppers are oftentimes looking for different things at each store; something that sells really great at our North store may not sell at all on the East side or vice versa. That said, we do have a lot of crossover between our selections. Where it is possible and it makes sense, we have our selections aligned. If there is a product you typically buy at one store that you’d really love to see at another we’d love to hear about it. You can fill out a product request form on our website or at the Customer Service desk at any of our 3 retail locations! —Liz Muñoz, Purchasing Director
Would love to see a store in Fitchburg, Verona, Oregon, McFarland
We’re not yet in a position to open a fourth store, but the Verona/Fitchburg area is among those we plan to research when the time comes. Thanks for your suggestion! —Anya Firszt, General Manager
I really love the classes and educational opportunities offered. This is such a beautifully run co-op community. Please keep up all the good work!
Wow! Thank you, that means a lot. We put a lot of time, thought, and effort into the classes taught by our talented instructors. —Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
I recently had a good reminder of why I shop at the co-op: I shopped at Woodmans just because it made my errands easier that day. I came home with tasteless organic produce that was limp and sad and also wrapped in all kinds of plastic. I didn’t save $ and lost out on quality. My only complaint is that I would say pretty regularly (over half my trips) something that I plan to buy is out of stock.
I often feel the same way when I venture elsewhere to shop—especially for produce! I am sorry to hear about your frustrations with products that are out of stock; that is a really frustrating experience and not one we want you to have regularly. We are always actively working to reduce our levels of out-of-stock products at all of our stores, but this is an extra focus of ours at our Northside store right now. I appreciate you bringing up your concern, and please know we hope you notice some improvements quite soon! —Liz Muñoz, Purchasing Director
Please add more vegan options to your prepared food section, especially the hot bar. Before the pandemic, we could reliably pick up lunch or dinner there and now more often than not, there is only one or zero options. People who aren’t vegan have the option of adding meat or dairy to their food. People who are vegan do not. Thank you for listening.
I looked at our menu for the hot bar, and you’re right, we could do better on this front. Some of our themed days have more vegan options than others, so it’s possible that you’re coming in on one of the days that doesn’t have as many vegan options on the menu.
We have been making an effort to put a variety of steamed and roasted veg out on the hot bar over the last few months at the request of other customers, and those are vegan. Additionally, I’d like to mention that our breakfast menu has more vegan options that we’ve added lately as well.
All that said, I will work with the managers to make sure we’re offering more options for our vegan Owners! —Nicholas OConnor, Prepared Foods & Cheese Category Manager
Love the organic and local produce, bulk sales, Wellness Wednesday sales, support of local charities like WayForward. Like knowing I can trust that the products I buy there are, as much as possible, supporting fair trade practices and the environment as well as personal health. Also like the fact you encourage good stewardship by allowing people to buy just as much as they need (ie; cutting a cabbage in half for a customer). Also like many of the friendly, knowledgeable staff. Keep up the good work!
Thanks for your positive feedback and so glad that our practices resonate with your personal goals! —Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
