Kalona Half and Half
After a long absence over the summer, Kalona Half and Half finally made a reappearance in the store(Willy West) a few weeks ago. I was in the store earlier today hoping that there had been a new shipment of the half and half because the expiration date (11/22/25) of the existing product a few days earlier was too close and would be expired before I would finish it. But here is what I found — all 8 bottles in the cooler were all 11/22/25 expiration date and today is 11/24/25. This happens frequently. I think the problem is that when you brought this product back after the summer hiatus, you put it on an upper shelf and it is almost totally behind the frame of the refrigerator door. This creates two problems – First previous customers who bought this product are probably unaware that it is back on the shelf because they can’t see it unless they open the door to the refrigerator which leads to the second problem which is that sales are way down and therefore you end up with a lot of expired product. Please reorganize that shelf and put wider/larger products in that area where the door frame obscures the view. Or put a product that has 2 columns of product in that area. The Kalona half and half is a thin bottle and there are not two columns of it so you can’t see it. I love this product because it is the only organic half and half that is NOT ultra pasteurized and I don’t want to see it discontinued from lack of sales due to the obscured view.
Thank you for taking the time to bring this to our attention and for providing your feedback. I apologize for the problem you experienced with this product’s expiration date. Since this item was reintroduced, the inventory we have received has consistently had very short dating—often expiring within a week or already past the expiration date. Our buyers also placed a large order to meet demand, which unfortunately worsened the issue given the product’s limited shelf life. We are actively working with our distributors and buyers to prevent future deliveries of products with short or outdated expiration dates.The good news is that sales for this item appear to be consistent with what they were before it was moved to its new location in the cooler. Please be assured that we plan to continue carrying this item long term and have no plans of discontinuing it due to these logistical issues. -Dave Andrews, Willy West Grocery Manager
Fragrance-Free Laundry Soap
If there’s anyway to separate fragrance free (free and clear) laundry soap and fabric softener from the ones with fragrance on the shelf that would be so appreciated. They tend to take on the smell. Thank you.
Thank you for your email, we appreciate when customers comment so we can try our best to help. With our limited shelf space, sometimes products do not receive the best placements. Knowing that the laundry set is super tight with many products, this may be tough to shift products around. We will look into it and see what we can do. -Garet Bauer, Willy East Assistant Grocery Manager
Hot Water for Tea
Could you add hot water and tea bags to the coffee station? Not all of us drink coffee. Thanks.
Thanks for asking about adding a tea option to the self-serve coffee station at Willy North. Unfortunately, we don’t have the space or the labor to add more services to our coffee station at this time. However there is hot water available in the commons from the dispenser, and you can purchase tea bags and make a cup of tea for yourself. -Luke Vannest, Willy North Deli Manager
12 Packs of Toilet Paper
I’m wondering what has happened to either the Field Day or the Wild Harvest 12-packs of toilet paper that you used to carry. This was definitely the most affordable and comfortable toilet paper available at the co-op, but now neither one appears to be available. First the Field Day disappeared, but then the Wild Harvest showed up and seemed to be basically identical. But now the Wild Harvest has also vanished! I was able to buy a couple packages of it from Willy North a few weeks ago, but when I checked again today, it was gone from there too! Have they stopped making it?
Thank you for your email, and I am happy to provide some insight. Wild Harvest has discontinued their toilet paper line from production. They will only provide napkins and paper towels going forward. Field Day has also discontinued their 12 pack. There are rumors that it is because of a package change, but we cannot confirm at this time. We apologize for the lack of more information, but you now know all that we know. -Garet Bauer, Willy East Assistant Grocery Manager
Compost
I am wondering if the co-op composts their old/waste produce? Or works with a vendor or program that does? If not, have they ever tried to?
Thanks for reaching out to ask about our composting practices. I’m happy to say we do have a composting program at Willy Street Co-op. All three retail locations have a compost bucket in the commons for customers and staff. This compost goes to Earth Stew Compost Services. For compostable waste created in our Produce and Deli departments, as well as our production kitchen, we use Green Box Compost. -Jenny Skowronek, Willy North Store Director
Please note: compost buckets at Willy Street Co-op are for Co-op shoppers after they have enjoyed their meal.
Loofahs
This supposedly “biodegradable” “nontoxic” “eco-friendly” scrubber smelled like paint thinner or lacquer when I used it on vegetables under running water. The (red) dye also came off. Could you find out how these are processed (what the smell is from) and/or get some un-dyed loofahs? Or possibly get some bamboo or other nonplastic brushes or scrubbers for use on produce? Thank you.
Thanks for reaching out to us with your customer comment regarding the Loofah Rubbits. I reached out to the brand Loofah-Art, who make the ‘Rubbit Scubbers’, several times, hoping they could provide more information about how the loofah scrubbers are processed, dyed, and what would cause that smell. Unfortunately, they are not responding to me. They have some information about how their products are made on their ‘About Us’ page, but it doesn’t answer your specific questions. I’m sorry! I wish I could provide answers for you. I can, however, look through the product selection from our vendors to see if there are other natural loofah products available to us. Thanks for the suggestion! If Loofah-Art ever responds to me, I will make sure to pass the information along to you! -Sara Berg, General Merchandise Category Manager
Online Ordering
I was looking forward to trying the “order online” functionality but I see that the only option for ordering online was the North store (for pickup; delivery is not available at my address). The web page design gives you the option of “looking up” which store is closest but even when I put in the zip code of the West store it still returns the North store as the only option for online ordering. I am disappointed and just wanted to make sure that this is intentional and not the result of a web page glitch. Can you confirm the North store is the only one offering online ordering?
At this time North is the only store you can order from, so what you are seeing is not a mistake. I am really sorry this results in you being unable to place an order on our website. When we launched our ecommerce program we chose to run the program from just one site. We did not have the physical space to dedicate at all three retail locations for the equipment and storage space needed to run the program. Our North location was the site with the most available space and offers the largest number of products. Unfortunately, our delivery partner only delivers 10 miles from the store, so no matter which store we chose we knew some of our Owners would be outside the delivery area. As the program continues to grow and we improve our process we hope to be able to expand the number of store options to reach more of our Owners, but we have no timeline for that at this time. -Jenny Skowronek, Willy North Store Director
Co-op Pies
I bought 2 pies this week to serve at Thanksgiving dinner. Apple was delicious, nicely baked. Pecan was really runny, hard to serve as only the very bottom, scant layer near crust, was set up. The rest just basically liquid. Not bad flavor, we scooped it out with a spoon and put it over ice cream. But it wasn’t the pie I expected. I’m letting you know for future quality control. I have photos if you are interested in seeing what I mean.
Thank you so much for taking the time to write to us about your experience with your Willy Street Co-op pies this year. We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed your Apple Pie! However, it sounds like, while a delicious dessert, your Pecan Pie wasn’t quite what you expected. We appreciate the feedback, and are continuously working to make these recipes the best they can be. I’m working with my team to make sure that the runny issue with the Pecan Pie filling that you experienced will not happen in the future. -Renee Strobel, Kitchen Director
Dane Buy Local Gift Cards
I saw Dane Buy Local has a promotion going on where for every $100 in gift cards you purchase, you receive a $25 bonus. I see Willy Street Co-op listed as a redemption location for the gift cards. I’m wondering though, is there an expiration date on these cards or is Willy St. going to end their participation in this program at any time in the foreseeable future? Since it’s such a good promotion, I was thinking of purchasing a couple hundred dollars in gift cards. If someone could just confirm that I’ll be all set to use these cards for the next few months, then all should be great.
Thanks for reaching out. We anticipate continuing to participate in this program for the foreseeable future! You should feel comfortable being able to use these at the Co-op in the next few years. -Brendon Smith, Marketing & Communications Director
