This has turned out to be a "business" issue that reports on several entrepreneurs jumping into hoped-for opportunities in Hillsdale.

There's a cautionary story here too.

Six years ago, the Food Front Co-operative grocery made a similar leap. It has yet to find a profitable landing place.

The smallish grocery store hasn't figured out a way to get enough of us to spend enough of our food dollars there. I say "us" because I'm one of those "under-shoppers." I'm also a good test case as I happen to be a Food Front member. In the course of my reporting, I've come to know several Food Front staff members fairly well.

I also value community ownership which keeps much more of the money I spend in the community.

So I have a vested, community and personal interest in the future of the store. (Psst. You don't have to be a member to shop at Food Front).

You should have an interest too. The future of the co-operative is important to all of Hillsdale's commercial area because it is truly the anchor for the Hillsdale Town Center. To some extent, as Food Front (or the Food Front space) goes, so goes the commercial health of Hillsdale.

FROM RED INK TO BLACK

Food Front's management isn't hiding that the store isn't making money. The Hillsdale store's deficits have been made up by Food Front's founding store on NW Thurman. But soon that venerable grocery will be going head-to-head with yet another New Seasons.

In late August the Food Front management and board invited some community members to brainstorm the situation. We began by reciting the ways the store is important to us. See above.

Then we got down to the business of sharing ideas. Some ideas were merely "tweaks" and easy fixes. Others were more sweeping.

In a recent follow-up letter to us, Food Front's "Community Relations & Ownership Manager" Brie Hilliard reported on the outcome of the August meeting. Food Front intends to incorporate a tagline of "Hillsdale's Local Grocer" and "Shop Food Front First" in its advertising. It will "start building a closer relationship with the farmers market and its vendors and build partnerships with other Hillsdale businesses for cross-promotion."

Finally,  Hilliard wrote, "We will make it easier for customers/owners to shop in bulk by advertising case discounts and special orders in the store." Other changes may be on the way too, she added.

Well and good, but I doubt these changes are enough to turn the store around.

OBSTACLES

Consider the just three huge obstacles Food Front faces here:

* Location: The store is on the wrong side of the street for home-bound commuters.
* Size: Space limitations limit the choices available.
* Competition: Fred Meyer, Market of Choice, New Seasons, Safeway, Albertsons and possibly a new Natural Grocers on Barbur (see story in this issue). Need I say more. Well, yes, some would also add Barbur Foods.

Further, it's pretty apparent that the Food Front operation is hampered by a "weak board structure" that renders board members largely advisory. That's a sensitive subject and wasn't mentioned at the August meeting. It may have been the elephant in the room. More than one former board member has cited the lack of power as the reason for leaving the board.

So what does Food Front need to do?

It should play to its strength.

OWNERSHIP

Members, who "own" the store, should be invited to do more than buy shares and patronize the store. They should be urged to be participatory owners.

Original food co-ops invited members to pitch in! Food Front should too. A little volunteerism in non-essential areas that don't encroach on employees' work could raise Food Front's visibility and value to the community. How about greeters at the door, or volunteer cooking demonstrations or community education presentations and discussion?

How about a "Food for Thought" series? Food Front could become a focal point for emergency preparedness.

Find new ways to bring the community to Hillsdale's Green Grocery.

MONEY MATTERS

I feel sheepish that I don't patronize the store more. I'd like to know just how weak a customer I am. I want to know what I spend at Food Front each year and be invited to double (or triple) that amount. If we "weak" customer/members knew just how meager our patronage was, we could pledge "bench marks" for spending and then be told whether we are meeting them.

One option might be to set up a pre-paid account that we might draw down. We would guarantee our pledged minimal spending level by putting the money on the table. Suppose you spent $300 at Food Front last year. What if you deposited $600 in a Food Front account, with discounts as an incentive? At the checkout counter, you'd simply be debited from your account, and, upon request, be told your running balance.

Which isn't to say there aren't real pocketbook issues at stake here. A former board member told me that Food Front needs to "appeal to his wallet." That's not always possible on items that Fred Meyer buys in massively discounted bulk, but one co-op I know has a "co-op essentials" program in which low-on-the-food-chain, nutritious basics are always offered at bargain prices.

THE OTHER VALUES

Because Food Front is a co-operative, its members value community ownership. I've suggested many times to Food Front's management that it play on the community "values" aspect. We are "value shoppers" - with a difference.

Play to that: "Your Store, Your Values." Get it?

There are the "values" you get at Walmart (99 cents for this or that) and then there are the values you SUPPORT at Food Front, such as community, community ownership, sustainability and nutrition.

THE OnPOINT FACTOR

Starting next year you may choose to support the same ownership values at OnPoint Credit Union's Hillsdale Branch. The Credit Union will be just a pedestrian crosswalk away from Food Front..

Did someone say "synergy"? How might the Credit Union and Food Front support each other and their joint members? Count the ways!

WHAT'S A 'FOOD FRONT'?

Finally there's the very name Food Front. To me it sounds like a vaguely conspiratorial hold-over from the '70s. Come to think of it, that's what it is. If the management is wedded to the name, tuck it into a small-font label but replace the marque name with a warm, nutritious, community-affirming name.

For instance, the sign out front might read:

Oh, and put it in neon, like the dachshund sign on the new rescue store next to The Cakery.

At the end of her report on the August meeting, Brie Hilliard wrote: "Please keep the ideas coming!  You can always feel free to write a suggestion on a comment card in the store, or by contacting me directly at this email info@foodfront.coop."

For the commercial future of Hillsdale, take Brie up on her invitation. A few of us (Friends of Food Front?) might meet and even put our ideas in the form of a petition. Something stronger than mere suggestions.

P.S. One Food Front member recently wrote me to complain about Food Front's endorsement of Measure 92, which requires GMO labeling. His complaint wasn't about the measure itself but about the fact that without conferring with its members, "member-owned" Food Front took a stand on a political issue.

Who made the call and how seem like fair questions to me.

Remember that $2,000 from the Hillsdale Community Foundation's Book Sale proceeds that went to technology purchases at Wilson High?

The money was a catalyst for the purchase of almost $37,000 of Chromebooks to be used by Wilson students.

How'd that happen?

The PTA added $10,000 to the HCF contribution to purchase one cart of Chromebooks.  Then Wilson Principal Brain Chatard issued a challenge to parents to fund a second cart.

Not only did the parents, (and some students, and some local companies) come through, but one Wilson family agreed to match the donations, allowing for the purchase of a third cart.
 
Michael Reunert, who was once again the stalwart behind the scenes in much of this, asks rhetorically: "How's that for making a difference in the community?"

Indeed!

Rick Seifert
Editor

Editor:

For the past several years, I have been returning shopping carts in Hillsdale to the proper stores. My record is nine carts returned in Hillsdale in a single day.

I am trying to retire.

Under Oregon State Laws, shopping carts are to be picked up by the stores within 72 hours of notifying them.

However, the stores have hired a professional crew to provide this service. Just give them a precise address and they will claim the cart.

1-888-55-CARTS.  Put this number in your address book under "carts."   1-888-55-CARTS.

Stray carts are visual pollution, either walk them back or call the number.

Thanks.

Arnie Panitch

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