General Managers' Report 7/24/08

Our longtime Beer and Wine Buyer, Eric White, was offered a great opportunity with one of our vendors, Central Distributors, which he accepted. We were sad to see him move on as he really developed these two departments to be destination locations for many of our regular customers. We were even voted "Best Beer and Wine" in Waldo County by Waldo Independent readers. In his stead we have hired Ronald Poirier, who brings to the table extensive experience in the restaurant industry and a solid knowledge of wine which we think our loyal customers will appreciate. We look forward to continuing to have the best beer and wine store in Waldo County with Ron on board.

We are also saying good-bye to long-time deli employee and Assistant Manager, Carly Paradis. It has been a rough month in the deli, with lots of interpersonal conflict, and Carly reached a point where she felt like she no longer wanted to work in this environment nor did she want to be accountable for trying to foster a greater sense of professionalism in the deli in her role as an assistant manager. We are grateful to her for all of the skills she brought to this departments, as well as for her willingness to transition through and help train a series of different Deli Managers over the years.

We've been working with the Port Clyde Fisherman's Co-op to try and encourage more Belfast Area shoppers to take advantage of the Community Supported Fisheries model that they are experimenting with in order to try and keep the fishing industry alive in this state. While the Co-op isn't actually handling any of their products as store inventory, we will be able to provide a location where they can park their van at our store so that their shareholders can come and pick up fresh, local fish once a week. We hope that this experiment will help us to promote co-operation between us and other buying clubs, as well as to maybe generate more interest in local fish. If enough interest gets generated in their products (they are whole fish that have been cleaned but not processed any further) then we are considering buying some shares for the coming season and making fresh local fish a new inventory item for our customers.

Summer sales continue to be slamming, in spite of the larger economic picture. It is crowded in here every day of the week, and difficult at times to get from the back offices to the front of the store quickly. It is our sense that Belfast is becoming more and more of a tourist location, with festivals or events happening every weekend. The store continues to be a large draw for many visitors to our area.

In case you haven't noticed, the property adjacent to the store formerly occupied by Matthew's Brothers is for sale, along with the parking lot that abuts our property. Wouldn't it be amazing to band together with some other businesses in town to purchase the property in order to meet a multitude of community needs with a locally-owned, co-operative corporation? We hear that the local food processing facility group as well as a local performing arts center are looking at the location. Maybe we could buy part of the space to utilize as a space to hold co-op sponsored events, or expand our ability to offer catering services, or help to sponsor a community garden where the parking lot now sits. Imagine the possibilities

Don't forget Customer Appreciation Day is coming right up: Saturday, August 16^th. We hope to see you there