General Managers' Report                                                              11/15/07

●      Laddie Lushin, co-op labor lawyer, has sent along his Memorandum on the Worker Member Proposal that we submitted for his review.  The membership committee has not yet had a chance to review his recommendations.  Please review his notes for a discussion at next month's meeting.

●      Phil, our facilities co-ordinator, has been researching options for recycling our e-waste as requested (mainly the stash of flourescent light bulbs that have been accumulating in the basement for the past couple of years.)  We estimate that there are about 350 tubes in storage, averaging 8 ft. a piece.  Gilman Electric Supply in Newport can pick them up at the store for disposal for $.11/ft.  Total cost to dispose of the tubes with this company is estimated at $300.  We are still waiting for a call from Wesco Distribution in Rockland to see about their rates.

●      The GM team has come to a consensus as to our feelings about membership in the National Co-operative Grocer's Association:  we are in agreement that there is not enough support, from the Board or from the staff, to pursue further research about the financial pros and cons of membership.  Our exploratory committee charged with doing this research has disbanded.  We have not reached a consensus yet, however, as to whether or not membership in NCGA is in the best interests of our store and/or the greater Co-op movement.

●      We held an All-Staff meeting last week, to address questions ranging from the return policy to changes to health insurance to training on Celiac disease.  We also had an opportunity to brainstorm the meaning of exceptional customer service.  Attendance at this meeting was not mandatory, and about half of the staff ended up coming to one of two meeting options.  Those who did come to the meeting were thanked for their sincere participation and awarded with some positive reinforcement points towards our Rewards and Recognitions Program. 

●      Kimalee and Erica are returned from their Rising Stars Training in San Francisco.  Other participants in the group included folks from independent natural foods stores, co-ops, and even some sales reps from the worker's co-op Equal Exchange.  We had a very renewing and inspiring experience, and were pleasantly surprised to realize that we are doing a really excellent job at running our business in spite of the obstacles we feel we need to overcome.  We had kind of a neat opportunity to do some mentoring for other stores.  We also came back with an armload of materials to review our operational and training systems, to improve our customer service, to boost staff development, and to inspire our marketing and merchandising processes.  It was a great investment on the part of the Co-op to have us attend this seminar and we hope to send other managers to this training as it becomes available again in the future.

●      We had an opportunity to have a presence at the Farmer to Farmer conference in Bethel a few weeks ago.  Erica and our newly elected Staff rep to the Board, Kate Harris, were invited to participate in a panel discussion on Producer and Consumer Alliances with Jim Cook, (Crown O'Maine), Jane Livingston (Maine Feeds Maine) and Russel Libby (MOFGA).  We went hoping to hear what some of the obstacles are that farmers face in trying to get their products to market and to promote the co-op business model as a solution for some of the challenges we face as retailers:  maintaining a consistent supply of in-demand local foods, lack of adequate distribution systems, and lack of a communication mechanism that allows us to find local farmers that can provide us with products that our members and customers want.  We learned that there are many opportunities for us to be more involved in the creation of co-operative distribution and food storage.  If any of this discussion sounds interesting to you, please consider participating in the upcoming Maine Feeds Maine discussions.

●      Membership update:  Since the end of our last fiscal year, we have gained a total of 44 new members and have had 33 members fall out of good standing for a net total of 2,463 members in good standing.