A rainbow was visible from the Co-op after the annual member meeting. Is this a sign of good things to come? Courtesy photo

The Los Alamos Cooperative Market at 95 Entrada Drive. Courtesy photo

Los Alamos Co-op News:

The Los Alamos Cooperative Market held its annual member meeting on Saturday, April 20, at the Holiday Inn Express. 

The meeting drew a large crowd—so large that a wall partition was removed to make the meeting room larger—because of an email sent three days prior. The email, from the Co-op to its members, stated: 

“At our annual meeting, we will be discussing closing our store indefinitely in the near future due to long-term challenges with sales and staffing. Combined with our General Manager’s resignation, the Board does not see a path forward for our doors to stay open. The Board has voted to bring the decision of closing the store to a vote of members.”

At the meeting, the Board President, Joshua Faulconer, explained that to close the store, two-thirds of the Co-op’s members would need to vote in favor of closing. Discussion ensued about what “closing the store” actually means, and two options were briefly discussed. One was the actual dissolution—the permanent end—of the store. The second was putting the store into “sleep mode,” which means the current location would close, and perhaps the Co-op could open in a new location in the future, if a future board was motivated to make that happen.

The third option, of course, is for the store to stay open, and that seemed to be the preferred option by meeting attendees, but not by the departing General Manager Andre Chavez, who made it clear that he was in favor of closure, noting that he has “a lot of experience” closing stores.

Chavez explained he was unable to retain employees for multiple reasons, including his “old school”-style management and the high cost of living in Los Alamos. He noted that one employee slept in a car before finally quitting (at that point, one audience member offered up her guesthouse to future employees). Chavez also mentioned that some employees had quit working at the Co-op in favor of a position at Natural Grocers, but he was unable to provide any information (such as hourly payment rates or benefits) about why a person might make that switch.

In addition to competing for staff, the Co-op and Natural Grocers also compete for sales, and Faulconer attributed some of the Co-op’s financial troubles to people shopping at Natural Grocers. He did note that the Co-op’s business had picked up since the store first put out a notice about a possible closure. He noted, however, that uptick in business has already started to decline.

Faulconer explained that for the store to stay open, sales must increase (ideally by about $20,000 per week) and staff must have affordable local housing. He also said that the current board members are burnt out and tired. He encouraged people to join the board to bring energy and fresh perspectives to this challenging situation. Going forward, board members will be handling some combination of arranging a closure vote, keeping the store alive, hiring a new general manager, or closing the store—none of these are small tasks, and people with with time and interest were encouraged to email board@losalamos.coop if they are interested.

The meeting ended in a Q&A session that became a rallying cry by members for the store to stay open. People expressed interest in serving on the board and offering up rooms in their homes. Someone created a Facebook group (search for Save the Co-op!), which has Google-doc links for people to share their ideas about cash flow, debt repayment, employee housing, and employee recruitment and retention. Already on this page, the Los Alamos Commerce & Development Corporation (via Executive Director Lauren McDaniel) expressed its support and willingness to involve other organizations, including the New Mexico Economic Development Department, members of which will be visiting Los Alamos on May 1.

At this point, the fate of the Co-op is uncertain, but there is a determined energy among members to turn the ship around, so to speak. The discussion will continue at the board meeting at 6 p.m. this Wednesday (April 24). Members are encouraged to attend using the information below.

Join Zoom Meeting

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84958957619?pwd=xu99O66BwEVjBy9bvGFaiaUw0qxrhg.1

Meeting ID: 849 5895 7619

Passcode: 466990