Location: Teleconferencing CISCO WEBEX
Present: Hermann von Grafenstein, Anita Levin, Sean Fitzgerald (General Manager), Maureen Ciesinski, Alyx Kendzierski, Thomas Fine, Leah Foley (Staff), Hal Hamer (Member), Shelley Boraby, Sándor Halász, Claudia Cooper, Sean Nestor (Member), Bob Avery (member), James Ferrine (Staff), Jackie McKown (Staff), Janice Flahiff & Carlton Surtman (Members), Shannon Ford (member), Nik Botek (Staff), Monika Perry (Staff)
Absent:Adrienne Armstrong - sent proxy with Hermann
MSC - Moved Seconded and Carried Resolutions are numbered R1- 3
Quorum reached at 7:33. The meeting began at 7:35pm.
Offer to Purchase Building - Hermann reviewed genesis of moving plans from the Diocese building in the OWE to the present situation resulting in the landlord wanting to sell the building the Coop currently occupies or the Coop will have to lease a Heatherdowns location, the only option that is move-in ready. The Board and Relocation Committee did a Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP)to assist in the decision making. The two sites were very close, the present location ranking slightly higher. Tonight's meeting is planned for the Board to approve making an offer for the building of $45,000.
First, Members who are not staff and Board spoke.
Shannon Ford outlined four reasons in support of purchasing the current location.
vibe& atmosphere that can't be duplicated ina strip mall.
Janice Flahiff and Carlton Surtman - spoke in favor of purchasing the current location.
Sean Nestor spoke in support of purchase of current location because it would require no down time
and there is comfort in knowing the issues with this location and not knowing what we would be getting into in another location.
Bob Avery left the meeting before an opportunity to speak.
Second, Staff was invited to speak.
James Ferrine - many new neighborhood shoppers are coming into the Coop for the first time not realizing there was a Coop store.
Sean Fitzgerald, General Manager - acknowledged that building needs work but he believes sales can be improved at the current location. Doesn't want another landlord situation.
Leah Foley - gave written remarks in support of a move to Heatherdowns. Statement is addended to these minutes. She is NOT in favor of purchase especially in her role as bookkeeper feels that buying building would not be a fiscally responsible position because the current location does not support increased sales due to neighborhood decline, smaller size and the need to spend large sums of money to renovate.
Nik Botek & Monika Perry - reported that consistently new customers come in to learn about the Coop, the neighborhood is where many of the current employees live, utilizing the available lot next door for a community garden or future expansion without damaging purpose and reason of Coop to add to community
Jackie McKown - works more than most other staff for past 9 years and lives in neighborhood and does not believe the neighborhood is dangerous. People of color - not necessarily members- shop at Coop and report feeling more comfortable because they are not profiled
in our Coop as they are in other area health food stores.
Last, Board members spoke.
Alyx - identified that all staff people except for Leah spoke in favor of remaining in our current location. Alyx is politically and socially opposed to any dealings that enriched Bassett's.
Anita - spoke to the process having been agreed upon before any locations or purchase was discussed and supported the following of the process which led to the decision to purchase current location. Any suggestions that the process was flawed should have been brought up before the results were in. There is not time to draw the decision-making process out. Purchasing the building will permit time to make any subsequent moves or improvements without time pressure.
Claudia - suggested that people shop at the coop for a variety of reasons and may not move
with the Coop.
Sandor -biased in favor of staying put as both options have huge costs associated with them.
Tom - Don't have info on where the money is coming from and what the details of that arrangement would be. NOT in favor of purchasing current building because of the issues with the building which will require money to repair which we don't have a plan in hand for obtaining. Spoke to the AHP flaws and the small difference and small amount of data used.
Shelley -stated excellent points on both sides but she believes the Heatherdowns location has potential due to her experience at the Bassett's store and that the size would permit the Coop to grow. Coop is a secret
and that has to change.
Anita made the motion that the Coop make an offer to purchase the building at $45,000 contingent upon the Board approving the particulars for obtaining the CASH within 14 days of the acceptance of the Offer.
Seconded by Maureen—Call for the Question:
Tom and Shelley voting NAY
Anita, Hermann, Alyx, Sandor, Maureen, Claudia, Adrienne voting FOR
MSC - R-2
Hermann thanked everyone for respecting each other and suggested we call the end of the meeting.
Motion to Adjourn - MSC Adjourned at 9 PM
Adjournment: Motion to adjourn. The meeting was adjourned at 8PM. MSC - R3
______________________________________________
Respectfully submitted, Anita Levin Secretary
Letters submitted to the Board by: Leah Foley, Shannon Ford, Rob Morrison, Monika Perry
Addendum, Letters to the board from members and staff
I would think that the buying of this building would need to be put before all the members along with the information about the other alternative. The vote of the committee members was SO close (within the margin of error as you told me, Hermann) that such a decision should not be jammed through without the members being aware of it. I feel that this is not the right decision business-wise for the co-op to make for its growth, safety and, frankly the pursuit of expansion of cooperative ideals. We have had stagnant growth in members and why shouldn't we expand to an area of town that is not familiar with cooperative ideals. I have not been a part of voting for any of this, but as a financial person with years of experience in accounting, and as a member privy to the information of this board, I feel I have to comment.
My suggestion would be to have Hermann and Shelly Boraby write a letter to members explaining the choice to see what there reaction might be. Royce is a real estate person and CERTAINLY knows that putting pressure on us time-wise to get an all cash deal is to his advantage. But, we need to do due diligence
for our members to insure that we get support.
This possible deal ($45,000), says nothing about renovations for which we have no money. Until we have money to renovate to increase our sales, we will stay on the downward trajectory that we have been on for many years. I have been witness to this with the 13 years of being the finance person for our Co-op. You might say, well she lives in an area closer to the south end location and that's why she is in favor of moving to Heatherdowns. I have traveled unfailingly 36 miles to perform my duties and will do so ANYWHERE the co-op goes. Staying in a high crime area where we are with no money for renovations or room to expand is not a viable option to stay in business. We need more space to grow. I think MANY of the members would agree with me.
Very Sincerely,
Leah
July 6, 2021
To the Phoenix Board of Directors:
I have been a supportive and enthusiastic member of the Co-Op for a number of years with about 90% of my grocery purchases coming from Phoenix. I love the staffand the quirky vibe, I love that I can always find what I need or (almost always) itcan be ordered for me. Additionally, I deeply appreciate that I receive a monthly discount, and that it is relatively close to home.
When the building next door had a fence around it a while back, my inquiry led to the knowledge that the abandoned structure was owned by the Land Bank and wascoming down. Sean informed me, upon my asking, that there were hopes that Phoenix might be able to acquire the property. I was excited about the prospects,thinking it might allow for an expansion opportunity.
When I stopped in for my shopping today I asked again about the land next door. Sean shared that there was a discussion among the board members about the future location of the Co-Op, given that the landlord indicates an interest in selling the building we're in currently and that there was a search for an alternate location when it was unknown how rapidly this landlord might want to sell. Sean also shared that a location near the Stranahan was being considered.
For two reasons, I do not believe that a move to the South end is a good idea:
In truth, the current building has seen better days; it certainly needs some quality attention. And perhaps this new space on the South end would look better and would have more room, but the loyalty cost might be too great a burden to bear for the Co-Op. This is a risk that I would hope we would not take.
I'd like to give an example of the Ann Arbor vegetarian restaurant, Seva. It was in adowntown location in a funky old building that had been a repurposed VFW. Thekitchen was probably hard to work in. The floors were uneven. The facilities were lackluster to say the least. But the VIBE was excellent. And that was a tremendous part of the aesthetic of the place; it was part of the reason people went there to eat (and during usual lunch/dinner hours there was often a long wait line).
Then Seva moved. And they moved to a strip mall in an outlying area of town. And we simply don't go there anymore. It's not the same - it's too usual
- and, somehow, the food doesn't taste as good.
That is what I fear would happen to Phoenix.
To focus on the potential positives, I would envision the Co-Op acquiring the land next door. This seems like a tremendous opportunity not only for the business butalso for the neighborhood/area. Wait a few years until the construction prices fallagain and spend the time producing a very thoughtful transition plan to build nextdoor. Perhaps it would replace the current structure, or perhaps it wouldsupplement it. Maybe the empty land could be used, in the short term, as a garden for growing items the Co-Op doesn't easily acquire locally already (corn, potatoes,onions, garlic, broccoli, etc.). It could provide an additional visual attraction to see a local garden next to Phoenix! This could also lead to positive publicity.
It is my fervent hope that Phoenix Co-Op remains at least in the general part of town in which it currently resides. I believe that a significant location move could jeopardize the stability of the organization. It is my additional hope that the landnext door be utilized for the expansion and updating of the Co-Op, in a manner thatdoes not diminish the delightful, quirky, family vibe of the current establishment.
Most sincerely,
Shannon Ford
Toledo, OH
To the Phoenix Board:
I am writing because I wanted to add my voice to the conversation about the co-ops possible upcoming relocation. I have been an employee here at the coop for 3 or 4 years and have a great love for it and the community we have built here!
I intended to write a longer email and attend tonight's board meeting, but I am covering a shift here and likely can not make it.
I wanted to say that talking with my co-workers, I know there is very low morale around the idea of a move to the south end. This move would put us way out of range of the community that we have established ourselves in over the past 26 years. It would make us inaccessible both to our established customer base and would make the drive to work unreasonable for many of our employees - so much so, that many of us will not be able to make that transition with the coop.
I ask that the board consider the staff's needs in this decision. I personally have made the choice to continue working at the coop over the years with enthusiasm because what we don't make it pay (less than $9/ hour for most of my years of employment here), are made up for in an engaging community, wonderful one of a kind co-workers, and the knowledge that we are providing an important service to the community that's not fixated on corporate profit motive. Our shop is full of employees art for sale, we have super cool staff led projects (like mushrooms growing in the basement to sell in shop) and more that makes this store so unique even when held side by side with coops in other cities. With a move across town, we risk losing all of this.
I am also an employee at Boochy Mama's local kombucha company. Boochy Mama's has expressed serious interest in finding a space to share with the coop along with local coffee roaster Flying Rhino. I think this is a really exciting opportunity that could expand upon the community building work we've done, while moving to the south end would mean starting from scratch in an area that, from my experience having been raised near Byrne and Heatherdowns, might be less excited about arts, culture and community hub that the coop has created.
I understand that finances are of top concern in this decision and we should make smart choices in that regard. I think creative visioning for the future of what the coop could grow into is an important part of establishing our future success and relevance.
One last point- I want to encourage the board to consider inviting staff into these conversations in a bigger way. Along with providing a livelihood, the coop is a weekly or daily part of our lives. We deserve a seat at the table.
Thank you for taking the time to read,
Monika Perry
Hello everyone,
It's me, Rob Morrison. You all know me as a long-time (11 years on and off) employee and Co-op supporter. I love the Co-op and everyone involved. I love West Toledo, the employees (like family), as well as the members and neighborhood residents who have supported us at this location for going on 30 years now.
I know there are many opinions about the relocation, and I respect everybody's ideas on this matter. I'm positive we all have the best interests of the Co-op's future in mind.
Without causing any chaos or hard feelings between any of us, I'd like to make it known that I support staying put. We've waited so long for our absentee
landlord to offer the building for sale so we could finally take extra pride in the space and begin serious work on making it great. For years I feel like our hands have been tied when we consider big repairs or fixing things up right instead of just putting bandaids
on our frequent maintenance issues due to the building belonging to someone else. Even though the agreement has always stated it's up to us to do these frequent repairs, without ownership of the space we kind of always did the minimum just to get by. The floors, the parking lot, and the roof as examples. If we stay and the Co-op ends up owning the building, making big repairs and putting our volunteer time into it won't feel like we're doing all this work for someone else. We can finally feel good about making the place amazing without that thought in the back of our heads that someone else is benefitted from all this hard work. It will be ours!
I'm not in charge of the books or finances, but I do the nightly report frequently. Lately I've seen some great totals at the end of the night. People are supporting us there! I know we could bring in more members through some outreach door to door and in areas we haven't covered fully yet, like the local arts and music scene for example. I understand we've done this before and it wasn't super successful, but I know if we try some extra outreach again we can bring in new people. You wouldn't believe how many neighborhood residents come in on a regular basis and say they had no idea we were there or what we do!
The neighborhood is changing. Some good, some bad. Most of Toledo is too. I take the safety and security of our store very seriously, you all know that. Over the years I've installed cameras, monitored shoplifting, and put an end to the harassment we were periodically experiencing from a small number of people who sought to do us harm. They know to leave us alone and things have been good overall. We have built relationships with so many of our neighbors. They look out for us too.
We have been an important part of the West Toledo community for so long. We are a jewel
of West Toledo as I've heard stated. I feel like moving won't make us safer or increase sales. There is a possibility it could, but I also feel like it's a big gamble to take that chance. People supported Bassett's the way they did because they were followers of Bassett's and their ideas. We are not Bassett's. I don't think filling their space will necessarily bring the same sales as them. It would be a big risk.
I understand moving to a nice, new, clean location with a landlord who will fix things for us sounds like a good thing. I get that. We've never had a problem getting supporters to help with these things. I myself and other employees go above and beyond what is expected of us to do major repairs all the time. It's not a problem. We love to do it. I also just don't envision the Co-op fitting in at a shopping center, strip mall location with zero green space (very important) in a part of town most of our customers do not live in or go to. Our own solitary building with our own lot is ideal. You are aware of what our residents survey showed. The majority live in West Toledo and close by. In my opinion, we shouldn't risk leaving our customer base in the hopes that a whole new community will keep us afloat. I understand there will be a significant cost to purchasing the building, but I feel that paying a much higher monthly rent as well as the high cost of moving everything will be too much for us to handle.
Overall, I hope we stay, and I hope we can all agree this is the best choice for the future of Phoenix Earth Food Co-op. The recent building demolition next door and possible acquirement of the lot for Co-op use will be a great addition to our property! Thank you for listening. I respect all of you and I know you care as much as I do. Whatever is decided, I will support always. I hope we can work together to make this amazing!
Sincerely,
Robert R. Morrison