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We Did It!
By Kenna S. Eaton, General Manager, from the November
2005 Newsletter
Last month, I wrote my article while sitting
in my old office hidden away at the old store, and this month,
what a change: my new office sits above the store floor so I
can hear the contented hum of happy shoppers and, if I like,
I can turn around and take a look at what’s really going
on down there (Beware shoplifters! I can see all!).
The move did go pretty much as planned. On Sunday,
October 9, a hoard of locusts, disguised as volunteers, descended
upon the old Co-op, packing everything in sight. They rapidly moved
through the aisles, working together to pack the food, starting
with the frozen stuff, heft it into pickup trucks and drive it
over to the new store. Everyone worked so hard and fast that we
quickly ran out of boxes and had to make emergency runs to U-Haul
for extras! At 9 a.m., we packed the shopping carts with bags of
chips and had ourselves a small parade across the highway and into
our new home—what fun!
Having volunteers come in two-hour shifts also
worked well for us. Just as Annie and I were running out of steam,
a fresh, new crowd descended upon us looking for things to do.
Many thanks to the many, many volunteers who spent far more time
than they should have on that beautiful Sunday helping us move.
Even so, it was a super long day, so by 6 p.m. we decided to call
it quits, go home, clean up and come back to do it again the next
day. Monday, the movers came and the process was repeated with
the heavy equipment. By day three, I was so over being in the old
store, packing, cleaning and generally trying to figure out what
needed to be done next, that I again called it quits and went over
to help the staff restock shelves at the new store—way more fun and progressive. By
late Friday afternoon, we had approval from the powers that be
(otherwise known as city inspectors) that we could open the main
store floor Saturday morning and start selling some food. And so
we did. It was totally awesome! What a love fest! Co-op shoppers
thronged the store all day long, apparently not minding that we
didn’t have a kitchen, a bakery or a meat department, or
that the case for tofu was bare and the produce case for greens
had yet to be plumbed. In spite of what we didn’t have, we
did have record sales that day. All day long the congratulations
and hugs from our supporters flowed towards me; it was phenomenal.
But I want to go on record here as saying that I’m not the
one who deserves that thanks and hugs. The praise belongs to my
staff. They worked long and hard to pull off this move; they put
over 100 percent of themselves into this project, and it shows!
The store is beautiful, warm and welcoming—everything we
hoped for. So, THANK YOU Moscow Food Co-op staff!
During this first week, subcontractors are still
hard at work finishing up the plumbing, electrical and refrigeration
needs; however, we fully expect to have everything up and running
before this newsletter even goes to press. Thanks to all our members
and shoppers for their patience during this transition; and if you
haven’t stopped
by the new store yet, please do. I’m sure you’ll be amazed
and comforted all at the same time. I know I am.
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