BRATTLEBORO — The Brattleboro Food Co-op is looking for participants in two focus groups this month to offer feedback and generate ideas for two endeavors currently underway: The Co-op's Bulk department is being updated, and a new website is being designed.
The Bulk department focus group will take place on Wednesday, March 22, from 5 to 6 p.m., and the website group on Thursday, March 30, from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
“We care deeply about our customers and our community; as a consumer-owned cooperative, we have to, because we're literally owned by them! We also have a lot of respect for what they're able to bring to the table,” Marketing and Community Relations Manager Jon Megas-Russell said in a news release. “The more input and involvement we have from our owners and shoppers the better our store will be.”
The Brattleboro Food Co-op was formed as a bulk-buying club in 1975, when tofu and brown rice were difficult to come by and long before the internet was a presence. The Bulk Department became one of the cornerstones of the store as it grew and the Co-op's current website was created around 2010.
“Co-ops stand for democracy, equality, equity, and solidarity” said Megas-Russell. “Listening to feedback from people who care about our store is just one way we express our cooperative identity, and a way of showing this community that we value them. It's just one more example of the co-op difference.”
The Brattleboro Food Co-op occupies a 16,000-square-foot store in a four-story building in downtown Brattleboro that also includes offices, a community room, a cooking classroom, a commissary kitchen, and 24 apartments owned and managed by Windham and Windsor Housing Trust. The Co-op has more than 7,000 member-owners.