To-go Deli Offerings
I just wanted to give a compliment on your to go offerings. I work about a half-ish mile away at MGE and I go on lunchtime walks to the yahara and back and I been stopping by Willy St Coop a lot lately and wanted to say the Nashville Hot Tofu sandwich is DELICIOUS!!! Also, y’all got me hooked on your carrot cake and banana bread (whole and sliced out ones). I’m late to being a member and finally joined this past year. I find myself going here and the Northside (I live in the Eken Park neighborhood) and have been really impressed with your selections, etc. The ONLY complaint I have is you have amazing breakfast options at the Willy St location and when I work from home I gone to the Northside location which only has a couple of options. Hopefully, you’ll have more of that at the Northside location too.
Just got your comment about our offerings here at Willy Street! Very happy to hear you’re enjoying the Nashville Hot and Breads! I would love to hear more about the offerings you’re looking for at North though! The offerings at all three of our locations should be about 90-95% the same in the delis, so can you tell me what breakfast things you’re wanting to see at North please? Our hot bar menus should be having plenty of vegan and vegetarian options, we actually made a whole new breakfast menu recently to have scramble, empanadas, and biscuits and gravy! -Nicholas Oconnor, Director of Prepared Foods
Editor’s Note: Willy North has a new Hot Grab & Go merchandiser featuring breakfast sandwiches, burritos, and empanadas! Willy North also serves a breakfast frittata—in place of the scrambled eggs offered at the other locations—but the rest of the hot breakfast menu is the same.
Kombucha Class
Wondering when your next kombucha class will be?
Our class planning team met recently to plan out our summer classes, and unfortunately, kombucha did not make it into the lineup. I’ll see if we can get a class scheduled sometime during the fall. -Liz Hawley, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Simple Soyman
Simple Soyman has reopened! Simple Soyman reopened in late March and is selling to retailers. Please tell me we’ll be selling their products again! I’ve missed tasty tofu so much.
We have their tofu and tempeh back on the shelves at all of our stores! -Dean Kallas, Grocery Category Manager
Folkmanis Puppets
Hi, my 4 year loves robins and I notice that you carry several stuffed animals (Folkmanis brand). Any chance you could order a robin one for us? Or would a robin be at any of the other stores? Just thought I would check here before ordering online. Thanks!
It looks like all three of our stores have ordered/sold the robin finger puppet from Folkmanis. If you can’t find one next time you’re shopping, please check in with someone working in the Health & Wellness department. They can call our other stores to see if they have any inventory. If so, we can arrange a transfer to get the robin to the store you prefer to shop at. Or, they can add some robin finger puppets onto a future order and set one aside for you when the order arrives. We have ways to get your kid a robin puppet! -Sara Berg, General Merchandise Category Manager
Co-op Trivia
How about a Co-op trivia event or part of an event.
Thanks for your email and suggestion! We used to do this for our Annual Meeting, but we haven’t done it in a while. We’ll discuss this to see where else/how else we could do this. -Brendon Smith, Director of Marketing and Communications
Community Posting Boards
Please return the community posting board to the exit area. I have never been in the seated area it has been moved to. I have put up public notices about historic Madison events for years- now no one will see. Please return it to where it was. Also, the community sign place at Willy West – by the bathrooms? Again, not very open to casual visitors as it is out of the way.
Thank you for sharing your feedback about the community posting area. We were finding that when people stopped to look at the posting area on busy days they blocked the traffic of people leaving the store. As a result people were not able to stand and take their time to look at the events and postings. We hope that with the posting area out of the traffic flow, customers can take their time to look at all the community has to offer! -Kristin Esselstrom, East Store Director
I understand why having the community board near the exit area would be convenient and visible for customers. However, space in the foyer is unfortunately very limited and already experiences congestion during busy periods. Adding a community board in that area would likely create additional bottlenecks and negatively impact customer flow. I am open to exploring other possible locations within the store, but space constraints do make placement challenging. -Frantseska Kois, West Store Director
Mike T
Can Mike T please have a monthly column on food and chef stuff? He is great! Knows so much and has fun anecdotes about all his years working in kitchens.
Thanks for reaching out about Mr. T—we agree, he is a great contributor to the Co-op. I think there will be oppportunities for him to write in our future Readers. It may not happen on a monthly basis but stay tuned! -Caitlyn Tompkins, Marketing Manager
Sales at the Co-op
Thank you for basically having something on sale in seemingly every food category. No matter what I want, it seems to pretty much guarantee you have a version of that item on sale. It’s amazing! And it seems to make shopping at the Co-op as affordable – than pretty much all your chain store competitors on an item by item basis. Thank you!
Reading this comment made my day—thank you to whoever took the time to provide this feedback! The co+op deals program really helps us to offer a large variety of great promotions on a regular basis. Additionally, our Category Managers have been working hard on improving our promotional offerings and expanding our sales programs over the last few years! -Liz Muñoz, Director of Purchasing
Juice Bar and Salad Bar
I just need to say that for someone who has consciously lessened the sugar and caffeine in my diet, that since you closed your juice bar, I can no longer find the healthy alternative to drinks, especially when fighting a cold. Also, removing the salad bar was an unhealthy choice for the community, I believe!
Thank you for writing in with what you’d like to see offered at the Co-op! We will keep this in mind for future planning of our services. -Nicholas Oconnor, Director of Prepared Foods
Potosi NA Beer
I’d love to see the Potosi non alcohol beers in the 6 pack mix and match section. Both Hazy IPA and Golden brew
Thank you for your request for additions to the mix and max beer selections. We don’t typically select certain products to add to this selection. This is generally an avenue to move through seasonal beers, or products that have been discontinued by the distributor. That said, I do think it’s a good idea to add some NA products to this selection, so I’ll be sure the share your feedback with the North team. -Nick Heitman Meat/Seafood and Specialty Category Manager
Vegan Options
Thank you for all the great vegan options!
I’m so glad you are finding vegan products that you enjoy at our store! We appreciate the positive feedback and will keep working to provide amazing vegan products! -Kristin Esselstrom, East Store Director
Juice Bar
Would you please consider bringing back your smoothie bar? Gemini said you had one back by deli, I came to see it for myself since I’ve never noticed it. Sad that it’s non-existent.
Thanks for your inquiry about our smoothie bars! We know there are folks who miss our smoothies and our juice, but unfortunately, we had to stop offering these made-to-order items a few years back. We’ll certainly keep your feedback in mind for the future. We love to know what folks are looking for and would like to see in the stores, so thanks for taking the time to write in! -Liz Muñoz, Director of Purchasing
Co-op Snack Bags
Random question. Years ago Willy Co-op sold these awesome “Willy Street Co-op” branded snack bags. I’ve had mine for so long but would love to buy new ones. Are those still around/available?
Thanks for reaching out! I’m glad to hear you enjoyed the Willy Street branded snack bag for so many years! Unfortunately, we no longer carry them. If you’re interested in buying the same style bag, here is a link to the ‘Snack Time’ bags directly from Chico Bag. chicobag.com/shop/reusable-produce-bags-and-food-containers-8/snack-time-37#attr=97 -Sara Berg, General Merchandise Category Manager
Tuna Salad
Your tuna salad is great. Please stock lot’s of it.
Thanks for letting us know! I will say we are very proud of the Tuna Salad in particular. The pole caught tuna we buy is really important to us! -Nicholas Oconnor, Director of Prepared Foods
Sushi-Grade Salmon
I would like to request the return of sushi-grade salmon and tuna. Thank you.
Hello, Thanks for your recent customer comment regarding sushi-grade seafood. We made the difficult but necessary decision to stop regularly carrying these products for a variety of reasons, such as labor costs, irregular sales leading to spoiled product, and food-safety issues. -Nick Heitman, Meat/Seafood & Specialty Category Manager
