January 2008

Expansion Search Continues

By Jim Nelson, General Manager

The expansion committee and I continue to explore sites for a possible new location for Open Harvest Cooperative Grocery.

There are many factors to consider in today's economy and making the correct decision for the future of Open Harvest is a serious one. This is a day by day process we are investing diligent effort. You can feel confident that we working hard toward managing both the short and long term future of your co-op.

Once we identify a location that will both serve our membership and make financial sense for the co-op, the Board of Directors will review the information and make a decision. After a site has been approved, we will enter into a second stage of the expansion process which involves store design, arranging financing, and fundraising.

As we research locations, we are continuing to position ourselves to be a strong organization which is ready to take advantage of opportunities for expansion.

Thank you for your continued patronage and membership. We need you to help us build a strong future for Open Harvest.

July 2007

Expansion Location Research

Submitted by the Expansion Committee

Last fall Open Harvest completed a market study which identified our primary trade area. As a part of the market study, the Expansion Committee asked the consultant to give feedback on a few specific sites. The first recommendation was to explore whether or not we would be able to expand in our current site, but only if we were able to address the limited parking.

After doing more research, we determined that the parking issues would not change and our options for more space in our current location are limited. Therefore, we have moved on to exploring other site options.

Expansion Criteria

We are using a site matrix with five basic criteria as a first filter. The five criteria are: a minimum of 12,000 square feet, an existing loading dock, adequate parking, a location within 3 miles of the current location, and the potential for further expansion in the future..

The map that is represented here is also posted at the front of the store. It shows our primary trade area as well as concentric circles representing one and two mile radii from our current location. The black dots represent potential relocation sites that have been explored thus far..

We have done several surveys over the last few years in addition to the focus group interviews that were done last fall. We have heard very clearly from our member-owners that we need to be looking for a new location which is close to our current location. Other things that have been highlighted as being of importance to our member-owners are a bigger deli seating area, better parking, a larger storefront with a small store feel, staying in the heart of Lincoln, and being a community center.

Our work to find a new home will continue and we will keep you informed as to what direction things are heading. The Expansion Committee has been charged with recommending a course of action to the Board of Directors. The committee (Keith Dubas, Dave Eckmann, Miles Bryant, Alene Swinehart, Jean Helms, Jackie Barnhardt, Jim Larson, Pat Lombardi, Anne McCollister, Steve Larrick and Elizabeth Nelson) has met monthly since February 2006 and will continue to meet throughout the expansion process.

The Board has retained Jean Helms, former General Manager, as a consultant to the Expansion Committee. She will serve in that capacity at least until a new GM is hired. The Board, in conjunction with the new General Manager will continue to finalize decisions regarding the expansion process.

January 2007

Community Cafés

By Jean Helms, General Manager

Just how important is Open Harvest to the health of our community? We decided to ask for member-owner input on this question. One thing that we wanted to know is how we might proactively create a healthier community. We initiated a dialogue that would educate us and validate our intuitive sense of our role in our community.

In August and September of 2006, we held five Community Cafés attracting 50 people. Participants were identified at random from our membership and mailing lists. The Community Cafés were held at the Green Gateau in downtown Lincoln, as it was an elegant café setting that provided delicious desserts.

The Café participants included member-owners (lifetime, new, lapsed, and volunteers), plus a few current and former employees. The range of participants allowed us to include diverse perspectives. In the end, we came away with twenty pages of data, gathered from sharing thoughts and ideas that were recorded on index cards and flip charts. This data has been condensed into six themes which emerged. The data will be immensely beneficial to us as we continue to build our future.

If you want to know more about the process used, the World Café construct can be found at www.theworldcafe.com.

Emerging Themes

The question: "After 50 years in business [in 2025], how has Open Harvest (OH) - a thriving local cooperative - created a healthier community for everyone?" Specific comments are italicized.

By offering healthy food and wellness to more people through...
1. Expanded products and services. A healthy, vibrant, larger storefront that still has the co-op feel. OH should have the best organic produce in Lincoln.
2. Increased visibility - get the word out. We can create a spider web of awareness. Stay tuned to value. Have an on staff marketing director as soon as possible.
3. Increased accessibility - attract the customers of the future. Why is this important? Because I want my grandkids to have this experience! Be a welcoming place to everyone. We can influence the health of the next generation.
Networking. Partnerships. Connections.
1. OH is an anchor store in a green mall or larger building. Community of complimentary, like-minded businesses working together.
2. Build community connections with institutions, businesses, producers. We can strengthen the community through food. We can be a catalyst for increasingly healthy living of the community at large.
3. Support other Co-op startups. Be a catalyst for other co-op businesses - childcare co-op, co-op housing, etc.
Open Harvest is a role model...
1. Of a socially conscious business. OH offers an example where community is more important than profit. We can continue to promote better earth attitudes and wise use of our energy and money.
2. Of a functional family. Raise consciousness, put energy back into the family, recognize food as medicine. High-consciousness companies have analyzed the impact of these kinds of cultures.
Educate. Educate. Educate.
1. More classes about food and other health topics. Increase our educational role in the community. OH can be an ambassador for health.
2. Promote healthier lifestyles and exercise. Role model/magnet for healthy lifestyle. Heighten awareness/education on healthy living. OH offers healthy lifestyle resources, maybe more than just food and nutrition.
3. Offer resources for information. Provide a resource library. Draw clients through classes - classes support OH.
Grow. Change is good.
1. Create a vibrant, larger storefront with a small store feel. Stay unique. Stay cozy. Staff knows me and I know them, I wouldn't want to lose that.
2. Keep store in the heart of Lincoln. Eventually expand to other parts of Lincoln/neighborhood stores. Needs to be walkable, bikeable, and accessible to busline. Located in a central, accessible place in Lincoln.
3. Don't go too far, too fast . Watch the trends. Capture and foster momentum. Larger, but not too large. Balanced growth. Build the foundation very strong before branching out.
Social Aspect
1. Open Harvest is a community center. There's a social magic. We can make OH a place to go and BE, not just a place to go and BUY. We go to OH because it feels like a community. OH offers a place to feel connected to - to people with similar concerns, priorities, lifestyle objectives.
2. Open Harvest is a gathering place. I wish we had space to have more discussions like these. We have the ability to bring people together.

Market Study Examines Open Harvest Expansion

Submitted by the Expansion Committee

The market study commissioned by the Open Harvest Board of Directors is complete. It took a four-pronged approach: (1) A customer address and transaction study of 725 randomly-chosen shoppers. (2) Transaction amounts per U.S. Census tract. (3) Fieldwork: visits of Open Harvest, other grocery stores in town, possible relocation sites suggested by the Expansion Committee, and the general geography of Lincoln. (4) Discussion with senior management and Board.

Strategically, the report states that there is a large untapped market for a natural food store. This finding was not surprising. Other facts emerged that are now presented to the membership: (1) We now know our core trade area. (2) Our immediate priority and emphasis is on strengthening our current location. (3) All future core sites are near our present location. (4) The store must at minimum double its current selling space, and increase parking within two years.

The questions are: How do we meet this need and are we prepared to do so? What must we do? The study lists options for us. (1) There are site characteristics for a relocation of our entire store. (2) There is an option for in-house renovation. (3) And, there is a long-range plan involving additional stores. No decisions have been made at this time.

The expansion committee has been charged with recommending a course of action to the Board of Directors. The committee (Keith Dubas, Dave Eckmann, Miles Bryant, Terrence Moore, Alene Swinehart, Jean Helms, Jackie Barnhardt, Jim Larson, Pat Lombardi, Anne McCollister, Steve Larrick and Elizabeth Nelson) has met monthly since February 2006 and will continue to meet throughout the expansion process. The Board, in conjunction with the General Manager will finalize decisions.

Open Harvest has made great progress since our humble beginnings in 1975. We appreciate your continued support. Questions and comments can be directed to: harvest@openharvest.coop or the general manager, Jean Helms, at 475-9069.

October 2006

Cupcake Committee

By Jean Helms, General Manager

The Cupcake Committee idea was born out of the need for another assessment of our internal operations before expansion. An organizational assessment helps identify the areas of the business that need to be strengthened before opening a larger or new store. Developing and refining key systems increases the operating capacity of the co-op. Over the last few years, we have used several methods for assessing internal readiness including surveys, a store audit by our peers in the industry, co-op consultants, and the cupcake committee.

Jackie, our Outreach Director, can take credit for the idea of serving cupcakes at these meetings, since a 'Cupcake Committee' sounded more enticing than an 'Internal Readiness Committee'. Offering food creates camaraderie, and it was a nice reward for those who participated. The Cupcake Committee was made up of twelve staff members that met three times this summer. The three areas of assessment included Staff, Retail and Membership/Outreach. In a nutshell, what we found is that we can rate ourselves at least 9 out of 10 in most areas. There are a few last priorities which will be addressed in the next year, and thus make us more ready to take on new challenges.

Community Café

During August and September we randomly selected members, volunteers, staff, and potential members to participate in five gatherings called the Community Café. We asked people to give us input on the future of our organization and how we can best serve the community. The Café is built on the assumption that people already have within them the wisdom and creativity to confront even the most difficult challenges. All five conversations had similarities and differences. It is essential that we spend the time to pull together the information in an easy-to-understand format.

Read more about the Community Cafés in the next issue of News Bites. For more information about the World Café process, go to www.theworldcafe.com

July 2006

Expansion Committee Summer Report

By Keith Dubas, Board Chair and Dave Eckmann, Past Board Chair

There is a great deal of discussion among our members and customers concerning Open Harvest's possible relocation/expansion. It is great to have this excitement among the shoppers at the Co-op. The Board utilizes the newsletter as one of the vehicles for keeping everyone informed with accurate information. In this article, we are presenting the facts to date.

First, we are in the exploratory stage. The Board and specifically the Expansion Committee is laying the groundwork for what we anticipate will be a successful project. The process for decision making has been outlined. Several tools will be employed to obtain member/customer/staff opinions.

Here is some background on why we are considering this course:

About five years ago as sales continued to increase and the need for additional space began to become evident the Board began discussing possibilities for expansion. The Co-op has met or is close to achieving most of the financial and operational goals we need to reach for a successful change.

It became apparent at about the same time that South Street from 9th to 17th Streets was going to be renovated by the City. The City Urban Development Department urged the business and neighborhood associations to group together to work with them on a plan. That group, The South Street Business and Civic Association, has strong representation from the Co-op. Area property owners and developers have contacted the Coop about the Co-op's future in this redevelopment area, but any discussion has only been exploratory in nature. No commitments have been made: simply initial contacts and discussion.

The Expansion Committee of the Co-op is made up of Board members, management, staff and member-owners. The group thus far has studied other co-op's expansion programs and established a timeline.

In the coming months the Expansion Committee will be hosting group interviews with member-owners, staff and shoppers. At the last meeting, May 24th, a matrix of potential sites was developed that included needs and desires for the future of the Co-op. There were many sites listed in the matrix because nothing has been ruled out. That is also the case regarding what kind of store(s) we envision. We plan to use the group interviews to inform the evolving opinion gathering.

Recently a retreat was held for Board, our General Manager and senior staff where we met with a general manager of a Wisconsin co-op that had gone through an expansion this past year. She offered a critical evaluation of their co-op's expansion process, both the successes and the misses. Once again, lots of ideas were discussed.

This November a market study will be done. The results will be very informative and add to the validity of the Board's eventual decision on expansion. After that the variables will begin to sort out. All this is a lot of activity yet it is still preliminary. We emphasize that no decisions have been made about the nature of expansion, but progress has been made and a process is being followed.

It is difficult to be patient, but that is what is needed most as the process goes forward. It is our intention that through research and opinion gathering we will succeed in making intelligent, consensus decisions. There is lots of work still to do, and we seek your support as we help build our future. We'll use this newsletter and website to keep you informed. You can contact us at harvest@openharvest.coop.

April 2006

Expansion Committee Report: Feasibility Stage in 2006

By Jean Helms, General Manager and Keith Dubas, 2006 Board Chair

An Expansion Committee has been formed of Co-op Board members, staff and longtime member-owners. This dedicated group is building a foundation for supporting an Expansion Project over the next three years. The Expansion Committee members are Alene Swinehart, Bill Locke, Dave Eckmann, Elizabeth Nelson, Jackie Barnhardt, Jean Helms, Keith Dubas, Miles Bryant, Pat Lombardi, and Terrence Moore.

Currently we are in what is known as the Feasibility Stage of Expansion. The subsections in this stage include Commitment/Planning, Strengthening/Positioning, and Site Search/Securing. Some of the actual activities involved in this stage are developing alignment within the organization, conducting market analysis, building profitability, strengthening operations, and developing a financing strategy. We expect to be in this stage for at least the remainder of 2006.

The main role of the Expansion Committee is to support the Board and Management in its work in these areas. Some of the upcoming work of the committee will be to review the draft Sources and Uses budget, draft guidelines for focus groups, conduct a member-owner survey, and prioritize criteria for a site search.

In order to fully engage our member-owners in the process the Expansion Committee will be stepping up our linkage through direct contact, surveys and focus groups. Later in the process, we will also have informational meetings. If you are interested in joining the committee, attending monthly meetings and homework in-between, you may leave a message for Jean at 475-9069 or email us at harvest@openharvest.coop. These communication avenues work for general comments and suggestions as well. Please include an email address or phone number.

This is an exciting time in the history of the Cooperative. Sales growth is a good problem to have, however we need to know what our options are when the growth overtakes the capacity of our current location.

January 2006

Membership Asks About Co-op Expansion

By Dave Eckmann, 2005 Board Chair

For those of you unable to attend the Annual Meeting in October, I would like to refer you to the Fiscal Year 2005 Annual Report prepared by Jean Helms. It is a concise, comprehensive overview of the Coop. You can find it at www.openharvest.coop.

The Report led to a general discussion about our future. I answered a question on many people's minds- namely, why didn't we move into the space vacated by Godfather's? There were two reasons: (1) it would not solve the parking problem, and (2) we simply weren't ready. Parking has long been a source of complaint. The recent survey listed about half the membership found it inadequate.

We have enlisted the help of a handful of consultants who are aiding the board and management in working through the feasibility stage of an expansion project. A "green light scenario" has been created which provides benchmarks to determine our capacity for moving forward with Expansion Plans. Since then, we have been working to meet these criteria. Some of these benchmarks include 50% sales to members (currently 47%), 2000 Active Member-Owners (currently close to 1900), Sales of $3 Million (last year $2.7 Million) and a cash reserve of $150,000 (currently about $130,000).

As you can see, we're close. The operation has become more professional- there is better training for staff, management and board, better equipment and facilities, a better financial profile and better standing with local lenders. We need to consider Risk. When we moved from Randolph St. to South St., there was a lot of strategic planning done. Yet the projections were overstated and the store almost had to close the first year. So, we are working hard to plan more carefully and conservatively this time.

There were good questions asked at the Annual Meeting about expansion/relocation. Most had to do with When? and Where? The When is sometime in the next two years and the Where is somewhere close by. Right now, lots of things are going on in the South Street area and we are looking at that. We are a member of the South Street Business and Civic Association and are talking with developers and civic leaders. This is complex. Will South Street be declared a blighted area? Where is the city funding for this project? When will it start? Do we buy/build, rent? What will a new store look like? Right now, this is all up in the air. The current board and management have been getting ready. Decisions are not that far off. When we passed the recent referendum updating our legal status, we asked for help from the membership and got it. Two things coming up are an expansion committee, and focus groups. There will be plenty of work to go around. I say, let's continue to work together; that is our strength. If you would like to help or offer comments, you can leave a note in the suggestion box at the store or e-mail: harvest@openharvest.coop.

July 2004

Expansion

By Dave Eckmann, 2004 Board Chair

Let's take a few moments to think about two issues concerning Open Harvest. Both are two-headed: the first is expansion/competition; the second is membership/involvement.

Expansion is obvious. You've seen the added check-out line and new check-out system- both needed to deal with increased sales and longer lines. Currently, membership is just under 2000- the most ever! This does not include non-member shoppers. The store is doing well! A big salute to our hard-working staff is in order here.

We're successful because we've improved. That success will attract outside competition. Can we better ourselves while competing with outsiders? Yes, we have to. Improvement invites competition and improvement will answer competition. Doing a better job now prepares us for the future.

What will that future be- a bigger store, a second store, relocation? We've got about two years to figure it out- maybe less. We need input from you. After all, it's your store. Send ideas and comments to outreach@openharvest.coop. We are also looking at surveying the membership and meeting with focus groups.

An involved membership is the key. Find your way to do that. Shop here more, volunteer, fill up the suggestion box- whatever! There's lots to do. Find your niche and get started. You may find it a lot of fun.

Tip of the day: Grab a dictionary and look Cooperative- it sounds good to me!