Co-op Market

Grocery & Deli

Monday - Sunday: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

526 Gaffney Road
Fairbanks, AK 99701
907.457.1023

We Did It! 110 New Owners!

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We reached our Ownership Drive goal of 110 new Owners during the first week of September – just before Labor Day and the enradish redux editd of summer.

And we’re already putting the new equity we raised to good use. Look around the store next time you come in, and you’ll find lots of improvements.

  • We put up a new end cap for bread, with a lot more capacity than the old shelves. We’re keeping it as full as possible. (BTW: Have you noticed our new, lower price on Dave’s Killer Bread?)
  • We’ve brought in lots of new products, including kitchen gadgets & accessories and a greatly expanded selection of Hispanic foods.
  • We’ve got new shelving in the Bulk Foods department that allows our buyer to work more efficiently as she’s stocking the bins.
  • Hot food items are on the way! We’ve got a food warmer set up on the Deli counter – and the Deli crew is getting ready to stock it. (Huge thanks to Yolande Fejes and Ron Velez at Alaska House Art Gallery for helping us get it.)
  • And there’s lots more to come!

Thank you for investing in Co-op Market!

Meetings this Week – Oct. 12-16

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Monday, October 12 – 5:30 pm to 7 pm – Board Meeting – All are welcome to attend.

Tuesday, October 13 – 5:30 pm – Communications/Outreach Committee

Wednesday, October 14 – 6 pm – Joint Store Design and Operations Committee meeting

All meetings will be held in our NEW VOLUNTEER CENTER at 542 4th Ave Suite 100 B. It is in the basement below the Vet Center. Doors are locked after 5 pm. We will try to leave a door open. If you can’t get in call 347-4463.

Our Volunteer Center office hours are Tuesday-Friday – 1 pm to 5 pm – Stop by any time and find out how you can help out.

Story on the FCCM and the Foodland building

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This story on the FCCM was published recently in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. “Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market looks to take over Foodland building,” by Rena Delbridge, was published Monday, July 13:

It’s dark and cool inside the old Foodland building at the end of Lacy Street.

And it’s a bit of a mess, scattered with the behind-the-scenes mechanisms that served grocery shoppers.

But on Sunday, organizers of a work day to bring a community market to life there saw potential.

“We need to think about how we’re going to reduce the whole transportation factor in food,” interim board chair Rob Leach said. “We need to be locally self-sufficient. If you’re going to wait for government to solve these problems, it’s going to be a long, long wait. We need to do it locally, and we need to do it for ourselves.”

By April, organizer Mary Christensen hopes for a bright, bustling business, with a stream of shoppers seeking locally produced meats and produce with a bend toward organics.

This article resulted in a huge increase in the number of visits to the website and the blog, as well as numerous comments and a letter to the editor which also garnered quite a few comments.

Board meeting minutes from July 9

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FCCM Minutes for July 9, 2009

Present were Rob Leach, Mary Christensen, Lela Ryterski, Rich Seifert and Sharon Alden.

The June 25th minutes were read and approved.

Lela had gotten a name of a lawyer who does co-op law, Dave Burglen. Rob will contact him.

Mary is trying to make contact with Sunshine Food.

COMMUNICATIONS Committee: We’ve got the flyers and posters for membership ads. We’re working on a T-shirt design.

It would cost $360 to put inserts into 4,000 Daily News-Miners to announce the Annual Meeting. We can target zones.

Mary contacted Calypso Farm about them being board members. They gave us several other possible candidates for us to contact. They’re having an open house on July 19th from 12-4pm. They invited us to put our booth up there. We’re planning on it.

POWER POINT PRESENTATION: Cora is out of town and nothing has been done so far.

STORE DESIGN: Rob says he can do a floor design to be ready for the Annual Meeting. He needs to connect with Jerry Wacker about how much space for what products. There might be other architects in town that might be willing to assist. Rob thinks it would cost about $200,000 in renovations. Lela will research other co-ops for possible layout designs.

DELTA FARM TOUR: Rob, Shaun, and Lela are planning to go.

TREASURER’s report: Sharon reported $84,00.00 in the bank so far.

The other committees had nothing new to report. Lela suggested the meetings be held somewhere else, like the library. We can discuss that at the next meeting.

NEXT COMMUNICATIONS MEETING will be at Mary’s on Tuesday, July 21st, at 6:30p.m.

NEXT BOARD MEETING will be at the Foodland site on Thursday, July 16th at 6:00p.m.

Both meetings are open to interested persons.

Your Food Co-op – A Survey

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As a member you are a part owner of FCCM.

Volunteers already working toward the goal of opening our food co-op want to know what you think.

Please take the time to answer these questions:

_____________________________________________

What do you want to see your food co-op look like?

What kinds of products do you want to see or discourage?

How big of a store will fit your needs?

What departments do you think are important?

What kind of community involvement and events would you like to see happen?

E-mail us your thoughts, desires, big dreams of the kind of grocery store you would like to see and any other ideas you may have at fccm2010@gmail.com

HELP CREATE OUR FOOD CO-OP – JOIN A COMMITTEE

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With a lofty goal of opening Fairbanks Community Cooperative Market (Co-op Market) by 2011 there are many tasks at hand. Committees have been formed and many need volunteers. Won’t you help it fly? You can volunteer a little of your time or a lot.

There are many small tasks to do so if you can sign up for even one small task it will be a blessing and you will enjoy the fruits of your labor as you shop our own little grocery store next summer.

To find out how you can best serve the Co-op Market e-mail info@fairbankscoop.org or call 457-1023. Or contact one of the committee chairs and let them know you want to participate in that committee.

Business Plan Committee – Board of Directors

This committee is central to the organization as it is organizing all the pieces that go into creating a good business plan. HOWEVER, the work of the other committees is absolutely necessary to putting together a good business plan. Tasks involved include:
1.    Putting together the estimates that come from the other committees into a formal business plan..
2.    Determining a final estimate of the funds necessary for the project before seeking funding

Finance Committee – Committee chair – Hans Geier  – Email: ffhtg@uaf.edu

This committee is responsible for developing sources of funding including:

  • Bank Loans
  • Grants
  • Member loan Program – The committee must research and form a legal structure for member loans.

Store Design – Committee Chair – Robert Leach – Email robertleach@alaska.net

Local Producers and Product Selection Committee – Chair –Cora Kelley – Email bearhug@gci.net

  • Identify potential vendors from the Tanana Valley and around Alaska
  • Create a member survey to be utilized in the blueprint of the Co-op Market
  • Determine criteria for product selection with a priority on local products when available

Health and Wellness Education – Chair – Sharon Alden – Email fwxsca@yahoo.com

Operations Committee – Chair –  Mary Christensen E-mail fccm2010@gmail.

The work of this committee is almost complete.

Communications/Outreach Committee – Chair – Mary Christensen Email themagiccarpet@gci.net or call 347-4463

  • Organize membership equity drive
  • Hold fundraising events
  • Advertisement and promotion
  • Communicate with membership on a regular basis
  • Website and blog updates
  • Responsible for annual meeting

The numerous activities involved with outreach require a lot of help. Many people already participate but we can always use more creative minds!

Store Hours

  • Monday-Sunday: 10am – 7pm

 

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Location

526 Gaffney Road
Fairbanks, AK 99701

Stronger Together

Alaska Grown