+++++++++NEW STORE NEWS 12/30/08+++++++++

Design:

A good deal of the last two months of work was centered on trying to reduce the footprint of the store to an affordable and sales achievable size. The new store has gone from 35,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet. Approximately 23,000 square feet on the first floor encompassing Produce, Bulk, Grocery, Wellness (if you’ve been gone for a month or two, our HABA Department is now the Wellness Department), Cheese & Specialty Foods and a large new Deli/Bakery and their work areas and the warehouse and receiving area. Upstairs is approximately 6,000 square feet of offices, teaching kitchen, community room, meeting room; staff break room and member work area.

Finding the right balance of retail floor space and back room space for each department has taken time, compromise and creativity. Our team, plus consultants from the National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) and the Cooperative Development Services went through a dozen or more iterations of the store layout. The particular concentration was on the first floor retail space.

The CMT continues to work on the new Deli/Bakery space and some tweaks to other parts of the store. Upcoming deadlines: Jan 19th- CMT retail approval Jan 20- Facilities Committee approval and final recommendations for the Jan 25th Membership meeting.

The Facilities Committee will be displaying a model of the new store and a place to provide you with timely information at 484 Central. The area will also include a table, staffed by our membership, that will be recruiting new shareholders and talking to shareholders about loans for the new project.

3t Architects and the Committee are also working with NYSERDA initiating a technical study as part of the road to building a LEED certified co-op. (LEED: Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) EYP architects have been engaged to work with NYSERDA and 3t to conduct a thorough study of the project to determine which incentives the new building will be qualified to receive.


Funding:

We have over $135,000, including one $40,000 loan, committed in shareholder loans for the project. Our average loan is currently $4,000.
The Loan Committee continues to contact shareholders about loans. They are planning a few “calling parties” at the co-op in the coming weeks. If you’re interested in helping the committee secure the loans we need for our project, please don’t hesitate to call Lynne or Cindee, their contact information is at the end of this posting.


Reaching us….

Email Cindee Lolik at cindee@honestweight.coop or Lynne Lekakis at kandL@capital.net with suggestions or concerns. Drop thoughts in the project suggestion box in the front of the store under the project time line and posted news. We are delighted to hear from you!

+++++++++NEW STORE NEWS 10/30/08+++++++++

Check our latest postings at honestweight.coop. The facilities news is under “What’s New at the Co-op”.

Design:
3T, our architects, along with John Bishop, our construction manager, the Collective Management Team (CMT), the facilities committee, the site engineers, staff, and P.J. Hoffman, a consultant from the national cooperative group have been juggling our store contents around within the original design, trying to maximize the efficiency of refrigeration, product movement, customer movement, staffing efficiency, equipment cost, non-retail use, etc.

We have been winnowing the design this month as our desires do not match our fiscal capability. Each department and non-retail area must be able to make a case for its need for space, estimate sales immediately and in the future, etc. As we move forward, all this is starting to fall into place. In the first pass, the design team was able to reduce the footprint enough to get it into the range we’ve been planning for, and maximize access to the building by truck, bike, and car.

The current design will be available for your review at the Membership Dinner, at St. Sophia’s on November 1. Members of the facilities committee will be available to answer questions. We hope to finalize the design and bring it to you for a vote the weekend before Thanksgiving. Look for a postcard in the mail.

Funding:
Three waves of our 5,000 piece mailing have gone out, and members have begun making follow up calls. So far our average loan is $3,000. We have quite a ways to go to $2 million, but we believe we have a strong commitment to our future success here at the co-op, and we will achieve our goal. Increased sales due to our reset enabling people to shop a bit more comfortably will also help our cash position. We are retaining all our earnings this year in order to prepare for the new store. We feel that an investment in our community that you can actually watch and effect might just be the answer to the economic challenges we are facing in our nation today.

If you would like to help with calling, please don’t hesitate to contact Lynne or Cindee below. If you don’t want to wait for your mailing and wish to make a loan, simply call or email and we’ll get right back to you.

Building Green:
We are still aiming for LEED certification. Our design process hasn’t gotten down to the specifics of our refrigeration systems yet, but we continue to strive for the highest energy efficiency and most sustainable practices we can afford, and we will not lose sight of our mission.

Timing and Tenants:
The Dance Studio is finishing up its lease at the end of November. If you know of anyone needing a very short-term lease (3 months) please contact Cindee. The State is scheduled to move out by the end of February, so at this writing, our timeline is still moving along as planned.

What’s on the schedule next for owners?

 Membership meeting in November. Stay tuned for more info.

Reaching us….
 Email Cindee Lolik at cindee@honestweight.coop or Lynne Lekakis at kandL@capital.net with suggestions or concerns. Drop thoughts in the project suggestion box in the front of the store under the project timeline and posted news. We are delighted to hear from you!


More soon. –The Facilities Committee