BriarPatch Food Co-op | Spring 2021
The Cooperative way of doing Business By Chris Maher, General Manager
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f you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” -Unknown
It was incredibly exciting to announce the Co-op’s expansion to a multi-store model with a new store in Auburn at the end of last year. In case you haven’t heard, we will be opening a second store at the intersection of Bell Road and Highway 49. We’ve leased about a third of the space formerly occupied by a Kmart and are working toward an opening in mid-2022. This year will be spent primarily on design of the new space and we are eager to hear your thoughts about what a new co-op should look and feel like and what products it should offer. As you likely know, there are not many options in that area for one-stop, full service natural foods grocery. We look forward to filling this niche. If you have thoughts or are looking for ongoing updates as our work progresses, visit our dedicated page at briarpatch.coop/auburn. We’ve been hearing from people in that area for a while asking for us to consider a store there, and we’d been working with a group of farmers and residents that sought to create and open a co-op in Auburn. Given the significant cost of opening a grocery store, it ultimately proved to be the best path to join forces formally as we did late last year and work toward a second BriarPatch location.
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Despite the relatively underserved nature of the Auburn area, the fact remains that organic and natural foods are generally widely available. The work that BriarPatch’s cooperative founders did in service to Grass Valley, Nevada
In the coming months, we will be seeking to make connections in the Auburn area with community groups and non-profits, especially those that align with our mission to develop community and support a healthy food system. City and surrounding areas has paid off immensely in that more and more people are choosing foods and lifestyles that are healthier for themselves and for our planet. We want to continue this work. We want to bring more people to the table to share in the abundance we are fortunate to enjoy. This move presents an amazing opportunity to do both things. We are also excited to grow the Coop’s impact as an employer. As you likely know, in the service and retail
industry, it’s quite common for employers to suppress hours of their workers to limit access to benefits as a cost control measure. At the Co-op we take a different approach, which is to offer a workplace where our staff can buy-in to our values and mission. We encourage full-time employment and work to give everyone access to medical, dental, vision and other benefits. Not only will our growth add to the number of jobs we are able to offer but it will provide development and growth opportunities for our current staff who may choose to take on leadership roles in our new store. In the coming months, we will be seeking to make connections in the Auburn area with community groups and nonprofits, especially those that align with our mission to develop community and support a healthy food system. We will expand our support outside of our current area to grow our impact. If all of this sounds like a different way of doing business, it is. This is the cooperative way. We are glad that you are a part of it and look forward to our journey together.
