More Co-Op Fun

dw438 · October 2006

http://www.chow.com/stories/10133

An excerpt:
"When my husband and I moved from Manhattan to Park Slope, Brooklyn, last year, people would inevitably ask, Ã¢â‚¬Å“So, are you going to cave in and join the Coop?Ã¢â‚¬Â They meant the Park Slope Food Coop, the largest member-owned and -operated co-op in the country. Something between an earthy-crunchy health food haven and a Soviet-style reeducation camp, the Coop offered great groceries at low prices but required its members to work in the store for the privilege of shopping there. No way were we joining."

doctorj · October 2006

Subject: Re: More Co-Op Fun

dw438 wrote: and a Soviet-style reeducation camp

Not so far from the truth. I finally found out recently where the practice of queuing three times in order to exit was copied from.

anonymous · October 2006

I heard that the Co-op spent alot of money buying the building next door, and spent over a million renovating. Where are they getting the money from? Also how hypocritical of them to say that it's non-profit. That's how they're listed on tax returns, I asked. What good work are they doing for the community, except getting rich off of our backs with free labor.

erikka · October 2006

cue "coop is good" vs. "coop is evil" argument....gloves off, and GO!

hey, where's that crazy Fresh Direct hating guy? I'm sure he'd have lots to add to the discussion if he wasn't busy putting whole unsalted almonds in little plastic bags. Don't get in his way and or you will get BASHED in an organic, free-range nonsexist fashion!

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5449

Sorry, I couldn't help myself.

drano · October 2006

Hold on, lemme get some popcorn for this.

victoriadesigns · October 2006

Somebody just needs to write a macro for this topic already!

linusvanpelt · October 2006

garfield girl wrote: I heard that the Co-op spent alot of money buying the building next door, and spent over a million renovating. Where are they getting the money from? Also how hypocritical of them to say that it's non-profit. That's how they're listed on tax returns, I asked. What good work are they doing for the community, except getting rich off of our backs with free labor.

Wha??? The free labor "they" are getting "rich" off of is themselves. It's not like they go out and press-gang non-members to work as slaves in the cheese-slicing room.

miriam · October 2006

Talking about cheese slicing - I met my first ever rich republican during the shift. It was before the last presidential elections and she made the mistake of explaining how she will vote for Bush because she and her husband have lots of money and Kerry would taxed it away from them.

It was something to see the other members to first froze in disbelief and then attack her until there was just a horrible silence until the end of the shift.

I wonder if that person is still a member... I am not...

I like the philosophy of the co-op, not so much its execution.

doublediamond · October 2006

Gosh, is it really that bad? I'm thinking of joining. My friend took me in there and I didn't like the three checkouts. The implied lack of trust and the whole ineffiency of it might make me go insane... unless it turns out to be a good experience on the whole.

Does anyone here like it there?

anonymous · October 2006

Subject: coop

it's not really that bad...the benefit of the coop is cheap good food, that's it.

If you can afford to buy food at Whole Foods and think that Fairway's stuff is fresh, then it isn't for you. I personally can't afford Whole Foods or Back to the Land or whatever and think that some of Fairway's stuff isn't that fresh (Red Hook spot...too much stuff, not enough traffic).

Don't get me wrong, the coop is crazy but they do the three checkout thing because people were stealing, they do the 2 makeup thing (I hate it two) to make people more responsible for their shifts...I would never work my "scheduled" shift if it didn't matter if I missed it and could make it up some other time. If you really think about the issues, the way they're doing it does make sense...

Yes, the coop does attract wierdo's and it's a really small space to be for 2 1/2 hours with 200 crazies but alot of what you get back from the place and the people is your own attitude towards the place. I try to take it easy at the coop and never at certain hours when I know it's going to be rediculous.

rogersma · October 2006

doublediamond wrote: Does anyone here like it there?

I suspect most of us who like the Co-op just don't bother to rise to the bait here anymore. At the moment the Co-op seems to have plenty of members, with new ones joining every week, so defending it here seems sort of pointless.

That said, the Co-op has very low prices and the best produce in town. For those who are generally disgusted with the bland big-box corporatization of just about everything in this country, it's also a way to participate in and support a very different consumer experience.

It's not for everyone. And it's not really something that can or needs to be sold door-to-door. So you'll probably hear more bashers here than boosters.

linusvanpelt · October 2006

rogersma wrote: [quote=doublediamond]Does anyone here like it there?

I suspect most of us who like the Co-op just don't bother to rise to the bait here anymore. At the moment the Co-op seems to have plenty of members, with new ones joining every week, so defending it here seems sort of pointless.

More important, I want the lines to be shorter. We're finally getting some decent attrition thanks to Fairway, so why screw it up?

anonymous · October 2006

rogersma wrote:
I suspect most of us who like the Co-op just don't bother to rise to the bait here anymore.

Yes, I quite agree. Boooring...

More Co-Op Fun

Comments

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories