Our Shopper Survey results are in! Thank you to all who took the time to answer our questions. Your feedback will guide management, staff and our board of directors in our day-to-day work and as we plan for the future.

What did we learn? Perhaps the most important takeaway is how deeply you care about your co-op.

In total, 463 people started the survey, and 89% completed it. (Because of its length – 40 questions – Survey Monkey had projected a completion rate of just 53 percent.) Most people will drop out if a survey takes more than 5-10 minutes, so we were impressed that you spent an average of 18 minutes on ours.

And you didn’t just tick off the boxes. You took the time to include approximately 600 comments: praise, constructive criticism, suggestions and questions. We’ll be studying these in depth to glean more insight into how we can better meet your needs.

Click here for a preliminary survey report, including charts and graphs. Here are a few key findings.

• Cooperation Matters – Three quarters of our respondents said the fact that we’re a co-op influences their decision to shop with us. 66% of our survey takers are Owners, and of those, 43% are long-time Owners (since the beginning or when the store opened in 2013). The top three reasons Owners cited for investing in the store are 1) to support local farmers and producers, 2) to support the local economy, and 3) belief in the co-op’s mission and values.

• Store Satisfaction Is High – Results show that 98% of respondents are satisfied with the store overall, with 59% “extremely satisfied.” And 98% would recommend us to friends and colleagues, with 82% “highly likely” to recommend. Our shoppers are happiest with our Bulk Foods, Produce and Wellness departments, and would like to see improvement in our Bread & Baked Goods, Deli, Cheese and Meat departments.

• Why Shop the Co-op? – The top three reasons for shopping at the co-op are 1) to support local growers and producers, 2) to support good health and nutrition, and 3) to buy high quality organic foods. This is consistent with our mission and values of supporting good health by providing natural foods & products and promoting sustainability by supporting our local farmers & producers.

(We were delighted to see that our “courteous and friendly staff” came in as the fourth highest reason!)

• Pricing Concerns – While 75% find our prices to be either excellent or satisfactory, 15% rated them poor. We definitely need to do a better job of communicating about our many discount programs, including Co+op Basics, Co+op Deals and Owner Deals. We were surprised to see large percentages of respondents said they don’t know about (or don’t use) these benefits.

Our buyers have already begun working on several pricing strategies, including regular comparison shopping. We will continue to work hard to provide the highest quality food at the best possible prices, while also balancing the needs of the store (paying our bills, creating a great work environment with decent wages, offering services to our Owners and the community, and becoming profitable).

• We’re Not a One-Stop Shop (Yet) – 75% of respondents said they buy 25% or less of their groceries from the co-op, while only 3% said they buy almost everything here. We recognize that we are a small store and cannot carry every possible product choice, but we’ll be digging into your comments to find out what you always purchase elsewhere and why. If we can bring in new products or improve the quality of what we can, we will continue to do that.

Again, thank you to everyone who offered your feedback and suggestions. We are inspired by you!

Congratulations to the three survey takers who each won $100 in Co-op Cash: Paula Kunkel, Julianne Warren and Molly Lemen!

 

Give us your opinions and 20 minutes of your time, and we’ll give you a chance to win one of three $100 Co-op Cash gift certificates!

It’s hard to believe, but 2018 marks our 5th year in business. Now that we’ve reached this milestone, we want to know what you think: What are we doing well? How can we improve?

We’re conducting our first shopper survey since the store opened because we want (and need) your feedback. We’ll use your answers to guide our operations and strategic planning for the coming years.

We’ll ask about your shopping patterns and your satisfaction with the co-op. There’s also a section specifically for Owners and a series of demographic questions that are entirely voluntary. Most questions have space for your comments, too.

We value everyone’s input, so this survey is open to all shoppers.

Click here to take our shopper survey.

The survey will be open through February 18th.

It’s time for our Owners to select our nonprofit recipients of next year’s Lend a Hand register round-ups.

For 2018, we have 22 applicants. Half of them have never received Lend a Hand donations. We invite our Owners to select 11 of these nonprofits for our monthly round-ups. (December is reserved for collecting necessities for the shelter residents at the Interior Alaska Center for Non-Violent Living.)

Please review the applications linked below before completing the Lend a Hand selection survey, located here. You can also review our charitable donation guidelines here. Asterisks indicate organizations that have not previously benefited from Lend a Hand. To view prior years’ totals, click here.

• Access Alaska*

• Boreal Sun Charter School*

• Bread Line Inc./Stone Soup

• Calypso Farm & Ecology Center

• Fairbanks Animal Shelter Fund

• Fairbanks Children’s Museum

• Fairbanks Community Food Bank

• Fairbanks Open Radio*

• Fairbanks Senior Center’s Meals on Wheels*

• Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival*

• Fairbanks Youth Advocates

• Friends of Creamer’s Field

• Friends of Fox Spring*

• Georgeson Botanical Garden Society

• Green Star of Interior Alaska

• Guys Read/Gals Read*

• Inspiring Girls Expeditions*

• Interior AIDS Association*

• NAMI Fairbanks*

• North Star Imagination Library

• Northern Alaska Environmental Center

• The Folk School*

Are you ready to stock up and save? Buy by the case and save up to 50% at our 3rd Annual Truckload Sale this weekend! Sale hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, May 20th, and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 21st.

We’ll be offering cases and bags of shelf-stable pantry stockers at significant discounts. Look for great deals on more than 100 items, including sustainably caught canned tuna and salmon; organic grains, beans and dried fruits; organic coconut and honey – and much more. The list of items and pricing is available here.

Also this weekend, you’ll find special deals in other departments, too. Produce will have organic cantaloupes for just $1.99/lb. And local brats are on sale for $8.99/lb. That’s $2 off!

Speaking of brats: Join us for free grilled brats and vegetarian dogs from 11 to 3 p.m. Saturday! On Sunday, we’ll have free Northern Lights Dairy ice cream. (Sadly, we’ve just learned that they’re closing the dairy, so this may be your last chance to taste that goodness.)

This year you can bring your kitchen knives and scissors for sharpening while you shop. We’ve invited Trevor Burns and Ryan Keener of Sharp Again to set up their sharpening station at the store from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Knives are 90¢ per inch with a $5.50 minimum, and scissors generally run about $10.

While you’re in the store, sign up to win a wooden garden wagon from Woodstock Foods. We’ll also be giving away a kids’ gardening play set. And don’t forget: Our Garden Center is flourishing with beautiful hanging baskets and flowering containers from Risse Greenhouse!

Please note that all sales are while supplies last. If there’s something on the list that you really want, please be sure to get here early. Many items sell out quickly.