Harvest Co-op Supermarkets
Board of Directors Meeting
June 2, 2003
Present: Ed Barsamian (general manager), Eliza
Strode (vice-president), Jeff Rosenblum (secretary),
Andrew Weaver (treasurer), Sujatha Byraven, Betsy
Adams, and Elisa Alonso (board members), Mary Grinnell
(member worker), Jon Roussel, Ward Williamson (members)
Absent: Mike Wiecek, Melitta Jakab
Revisions to the Agenda: none
Approval March 31 Board Minutes
Motion: Minutes approved with change
of title from "Harvest Co-op Supermarkets" to "Harvest
Co-op Markets".
President's Report - Mike Wiecek Mike
was not present at this meeting.
Eyes and Ears of the Board
Andrew said that the eggplants in JP have been atrocious,
rotten, and there are very few of them. Jeff said
that the flour sections are great and in produce the
organic/conventional signs are appreciated, but sometimes
its unclear if the ends of the produce aisles are
conventional or organic. Sujatha said that there are
still problems with prices and that sale produce items
were not right at checkout. Eliza said alfalfa sprout
price seems absurd and that sale prices in general
are fabulous.
Committee Reports
MSSC:
- Recycling is still being worked on. A co-worker
of Jeff's is helping to work on a waste disposal
contract.
- Jeff has been exploring ways to communicate with members
using email. He met with Don and came up with ideas about
on-line coupons, different types of newsletters. Members
and shoppers will be able to make changes to what they
receive online. He wants to try and get more email addresses
from members as well as from shoppers.
- The committee wants to institute monthly member, shopper
feedback sessions. Jeff and Chris will work on it and
put together something for June.
- The same survey instrument as last year will be used.
Eliza suggested adding a question about the annual membership.
- Jeff added that he and Ed will be going to the co-op
conference in Lexington next Thurs, Fri, Sat. They did
get a scholarship.
Nominations and Elections Committee: (Betsy)
There was a discussion of the open house dates that were
published in the newsletter. The first member open house
will be combined with the board member open house. There
are four vacancies. Three of the vacancies may have current
board members re-elected. Jon asked about length of time
current board members have been involved with the board.
Current board members have been serving from six years
to five months. . There was a discussion of and how people
get involved and it was noted that the Nominations and
Membership Committees currently need help.
Eyes and Ears of the Board Revisited:
Mary Grinnell, member worker, came to meeting to report
that she is still having trouble finding a broom to
use during her member work. Ed said that she would
get a usable broom and dustpan. She also asked about
the idea that members could have monthly meetings
Ed and thinks it should be in the community room rather
than café. Mary recalled the Rutabaga Review
newspaper the co-op used to have and thinks this is
one way for members to feel empowered. She reported
that the floor was filthy in bulk department. Ed answered
that the company that cleans the floors has been changed.
Jeff thinks that more member contributions could be
added to newsletter as it gets revamped.
There was also a discussion about what happens to customer
comments and how they get chosen for answers.
Planning Committee: (Eliza) This
committee is getting revitalized. Eliza asked for input
from the board about priorities. In the past it has worked
on business plan, shopper survey, and board/staff retreat.
The idea is to move the committee into assessing, longer
term planning. In the past it has been in year-to-year
mode. Eliza would like to see three-year vision rather
than just coming year. Jeff said that the MSSC idea of
running focus groups in the fall could overlap with planning
committee.
General Manager's report - Ed Barsamian
Ed submitted a written report and orally reported the
following:
- He is working on community room to make it a better
place to meet.
[Elisa entered the meeting at this time]
- There are 4,000 members currently - up
from 3,600 at the beginning of the membership drive six
weeks ago.
- Introducing new hot case in the deli and making some
changes, including reducing the number of salads. There
will some pre-packaged and some in deli case.
- New juicer is in for the cafe.
- In JP the new dairy case is arriving soon and the whole
store will be reset in stages.
Mary asked who is designing the change in the bulk packaging
area and when it will be done. Ed answered that Marc
Cutler is designing it and that it will be done in the
next two to three weeks. Mary said that a lot of time
used in working in bulk is used moving things around.
She will give input to Marc.
- Cambridge sales are up 4.5 percent from
last year.
- JP is up 9.2 percent up from last year.
- The stores were open on Memorial Day for the first
time. That resulted in sales being up 17 percent for
both stores that week.
[The meeting moved into executive session
at this point]
[Board moved into executive session at
this time]
[Minutes submitted by Natalie C. Jaeger]