Mandatory masks
Q: Very sad about the mandatory mask decision...unless you are trained in proper mask wearing you are actually making the virus problem worse....removing the mask improperly, touching, etc. will only spread more germs. A better way for all of us to deal with this is prudent caution, generous handwashing and sanitizing, and NOT TOUCHING your face. Reusable masks? Are you kidding. I assume they are washed after one use? And how are they removed from a person’s face? Where are they placed? Yuck. And about the hearing impaired....I have hearing loss and wear hearing aids. I don’t understand your reasoning on this...I need for YOU to not wear a mask so I can see your lips, not the other way around. Sadly, I will not be using the store until the mandatory mask wearing is dropped.
A: Thanks for sharing your concerns. We have made the decision to require face coverings with guidance from the public health community, and ultimately to protect our employees. We agree that we cannot guarantee that all the thousands of people who enter our premises regularly will follow the personal guidelines for wearing face coverings, nor can we guarantee that they will follow the guidelines for hand washing, sanitizing, and face touching. That was unfortunately true even before the pandemic began. In order to protect our employees and customers, we feel it is best to cover all bases and require all customers who are able to wear a face covering for the 10-60 minutes that they are in the store. If a customer does not have a face covering of their own, we have disposable paper masks available. From the CDC:
• “CDC recommends that people wear cloth face coverings in public settings and when around people who don’t live in your household, especially when other social distancing measures are difficult to maintain.
• “Cloth face coverings may help prevent people who have COVID-19 from spreading the virus to others.
• “Cloth face coverings are most likely to reduce the spread of COVID-19 when they are widely used by people in public settings.”
Our policy includes room for providing accommodations to those who cannot wear face coverings, also based in public health guidance. Exemptions include “persons who are hearing impaired, or communicating with a person who is hearing impaired, where the ability to see the mouth is essential for communication.” If you are shopping our store and need to speak with someone without wearing a mask, you may alert a manager or visit the customer service desk, and we can answer your questions without a mask, either by practicing social distancing, or using the plexiglass barriers at the counter. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
Staff picks information
Q: I know WSGC takes seriously owners’ suggestions so here’s my latest: when relevant, edit “Staff Picks” recommendations so that suggested products include specifics. As a result of reading the “Staff Picks” column—which I find very helpful—often purchase products I’d never otherwise seek out. One of the recommended products in this month’s (July) “The Reader” is Miyokos Cheers to Cheddah spread. I like cheese so looked for it in the cheese case during shopping trips at both Willy East and Willy North. This product was not in the dairy case at either store. On neither occasion did I have time to extend my shopping trip to seek out a staffer for help. (After all, we dutifully follow WSGC’s request to limit the # of times we shop @the Coop plus limit our time spent in the stores.). Ultimately I went online to the Miyokos corporation’s website. Aha: this item is not a dairy product so of course it wasn’t in the cheese case at Willy East and Willy North. All to say: if Coop staff are asked, then forget, to include such essential information as ‘By the way, this spread bearing a title making it sound like it’s a dairy product is not a dairy product,’ then the editor of “The Reader” needs to do their job of adding such a detail to (in this case) a ‘staff pick.’
A: Thanks for the idea. Sorry you had a hard time finding Miyokos. I’ll do my best to add this information as it comes up. Take care! -Liz Wermcrantz, Editor
Membership fees
Q: In light of the current BLM movement, things that we previously viewed as business as usual should be scrutinized to support this movement and to ensure that equal opportunities are being extended to all. With this in mind, I have a question about your membership fees and the resulting surcharge when one is not a member. Are they a sign of privilege? Some of us need to shop at the co-op because of food allergies and intolerances. There are very few places to accommodate these health needs. If one is not paid a living wage, are you saying that by requiring one to be a member of the co-op to shop for food without the addition of a surcharge, that one has to make so much for a living? And if one doesn’t make that much for a living at a level you set, then is the surcharge penalizing one? Is this what you are saying by requiring a membership fee to avoid the surcharge? Does the co-op really need a membership fee to operate? Your merchandise can sometimes seem over-priced to me, even as a member, compared to other stores. Are you saying that you are not profitable enough that you require people to pay to shop at the co-op? Please explain how the co-op is responding to the current movement and making shopping a right for everybody.
A: Thanks for asking and for taking an interest in food accessibility in our community.
Anyone can shop the Co-op and anyone can join if they wish. There is no penalty nor surcharge for not being a co-op owner. We have not had a surcharge for non-owners since August of 2016, when we removed the surcharge for this very reason: it does not foster an inclusive and welcoming environment.
We are organized via statute as a cooperatively owned business, and by our articles of incorporation, our owners are the consumers who choose to join and support the cooperative in that way. Those who select for themselves to be an Owner in the business do need to pay equity to join as that is how cooperatives are structured. We do not have corporate stockholders, and so purchasing a $56-$91 Ownership does support the Co-op in ensuring we can have good cash flow to keep the business in operation for our community. In addition, Owners who say that they have financial hardship are also welcome to participate in our Access Discount program, which offers 10% off groceries and a longer equity payment plan, so that someone can join the Co-op and pay as little as $4 per year until their Ownership is invested in full. This provides more people an opportunity to participate in the cooperative if they wish and support in doing so. Please let us know if you have other questions about Ownership in the Co-op. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director
Store hours
Q: Please let me know when the store is going back to its normal hours, and explain why they haven’t yet.
If the Co Op is concerned with their customer’s safety, normal hours would be safer, as a larger number of people are always there because the hours force them to be there at a reduced time. Because the Co op is operating at reduced capacity, there is often a long line outside during afternoon and early evening hours, and people remove masks outside because it’s 90 degrees and unbearable. Obviously, the Co op made more money the past few months than they normally would, so hopefully it doesn’t have to do with them wanting to save money. It’s both an inconvenience and less safe to continue with reduced hours.
A: Thanks for asking, we do certainly understand your concerns and are starting to talk about how these measures we have taken may need to be modified for the long term. All of the measures are still important to minimizing the amount of contact between people indoors, but we likely need to continue making adjustments to processes as we are getting further into this ongoing pandemic. Some of these practices are challenging for customers and employees alike, especially when it comes to inclement weather.
At this time, we are not entirely sure when we will be changing our hours again. Having reduced open hours supports our employees in their ability to tend to the sanitization, cleaning, stocking, and other duties in their departments that require them to be out on the retail floor before and after customers are in the stores. While this does not eliminate the need for employees to be on the retail floor while customers are present, having this extra time at the beginning and end of the day increases safety for both employees and customers who have to practice social distancing while in the store. We’re not sure that we can manage the financial impact of adding additional time to the beginning and the end of the day to schedule this work.
As a clarification, the Co-op certainly is not making more money than it normally would during this time. We did have record breaking sales for two weeks in March during the frenzied start of the pandemic, but since then, we have had to drastically reduce services while also spending more money than we are bringing in due to the need for more cleaning, to provide face coverings for employees and customers, to keep our employees compensated as best as we can for their essential service, to provide expanded delivery and pick-up offerings, to package products that used to be self-service, and more. We agree that it would be nice to go back to regular hours and that it could be beneficial to spread out the time available for customers to shop. We’re just not sure how to get there safely, or whether it is something we can afford.
We assure you we will keep the Owners posted as our pandemic precautions continue to evolve. Thanks again for your feedback, we appreciate it and will keep it in consideration. -Kirsten Moore, Cooperative Services Director