After Yrs w/o a Grocery Store, Greensboro Neighbors Are Building One Themselves — And They’ll Own It

[RiverLover]

North Carolina~

After Years Without a Grocery Store, Greensboro Neighbors Are Building One Themselves — And They’ll Own It
12/26/14



In the late 1990s, the local Winn Dixie that had served the neighborhoods around Philips Avenue for many years closed down. Winn Dixie and other large grocery chains had divided up market territory, resulting in the closing of some stores despite their profitability. The loss of this Winn Dixie turned Northeast Greensboro into a food desert.

For more than 15 years, there were many efforts to lure a new grocery store into the space. However, while the store would be profitable, it wouldn’t be profitable enough to satisfy the demands of the shareholder-based economy of a large corporation. Fed up with essentially begging for access to affordable, quality food, residents of this predominantly African-American and low-income neighborhood decided to open their own grocery store.

After learning about cooperative businesses, they decided to open a community-owned grocery store. The store would meet local residents’ needs for access to quality food and dignified, well-paid jobs. And now it’s going to happen. When the Renaissance Community Cooperative opens in 2015, it will be a conventional grocery store (like a Food Lion or Kroger) where wages start at $10 per hour....

http://billmoyers.com/2014/12/26/years-without-grocery-store-greensboro-neighbors-building-one-theyll/

[NewDeal_Dem]

1. 1,10, 100 Greenboros!

[NYC_SKP]

2. Employee ownership is, IMHO, the very best model of capitalism.

Recommended!

[zeemike]

23. Not so good for the investor class.

It cuts them out of the action...every time you buy a loaf of bread the investor gets a piece of that sale.
And IMHO that is how you do it.

[NYC_SKP]

27. And they get a slice out of every dime saved on wages, benefits.

Not so good for the people who make the wealth, the workers.

[KansDem]

44. "It cuts them out of the action"

If investors want more money, they'll have to get a second job.

That's the way it's done in the heartland...

[jwirr]

28. What investers? They did not have a grocery store because no one had one there in their community.

Now they will.

[NYC_SKP]

29. Who said anything about investors? Worker owned businesses don't need outside investors.

And capitalism doesn't necessarily need investors.

Delivering Responsible Capitalism - The Growth Of Employee Ownership

The financial crisis of 2008 and the post Lehman Brothers abyss led to many calls from politicians and commentators in the media for new forms of capitalism and a move to responsible capitalism, and a rebalancing of economies. As part of this debate, greater diversity in companies and especially boardrooms, a move towards social enterprise and social value, as well as alternative business models such as mutuals and employee ownership, have increasingly attracted attention.

The profile of employee owned businesses has increased greatly in recent years, not only in the UK, but also in the US and Europe. The fact the number of employee owned businesses are rising at an annual rate of nearly ten per cent in the UK and over six per cent in the US highlights how this business model is moving from being on the periphery of the corporate world to a viable choice for company ownership which many firms are considering. In the UK, the employee owned sector contributed over £30bn to the UK economy annually, around 4 per cent of GDP (EOA 2012) with sales revenue of the top 50 UK employee owned companies increasing by 4.6 per cent year on year.

With figures like these the business community is starting to pay more attention, but the employee ownership model has also increased its focus and support from governments, particularly in the UK. Following the publication of the Nuttall Review in July 2012 which highlighted that giving employees a stake in the business they work for can help companies to be more successful, the UK Government announced a raft of measures to incentivise the adoption of employee ownership as a business model.

More at link.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanrefoy/2014/09/25/delivering-responsible-capitalism-the-growth-of-employee-ownership/

[SamKnause]

3. That is wonderful news.

The only remaining grocery store closed in my town about 2 months ago.

It is the first time since the founding (1887) that Seaman, Ohio has not had a grocery store.

My 6 mile round trip for groceries has now grown to a 30 mile round trip.

[Rex]

4. Rampant COMMUNISM! Someone inform the presses!

Get Ted Cruz on the line! Fire up the Cold War...my GOD are they black too!?





Cops should be able to handle this one.
















Wall Street, this is team bravo - Community Outreach Program initiated. Preparing for initial contact and encounter.

[RiverLover]

6. LOL!!!

Too funny!

[Rex]

7. Ty ty...had to mix it all into one ball of failsauce.

"Bravo leader, we have a deviant using humor as an effective method of criticizing our actions - please advice."

STAND FAST Bravo team...we are sending in a heavy to take out anonymous username."

[paleotn]

17. They look like the Stasi 2.0.....

....kind of ironic really. Then again, totalitarians of all stripes look kind of the same.

[Caretha]

22. They don't look like police

they look like the feckin' Gustapo.

[Scootaloo]

30. They look like an occupying military

And they cry when they are treated as one

[Ramses]

33. now thats funny

If it wasnt so true

[Doctor_J]

45. Fox will be all over it

"Are black neighborhoods succeptible to communist takeovers? Why hasn't the president condemned this yet?"

[SammyWinstonJack]

47. heheheh

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Fantastic!

[Warpy]

8. Good for them!

If they join the IGA, they'll have access to a distributor network that will allow them to compete head to head with corporate chains.

Whatever they do, I hope this model takes off in other food deserts around the country. Corporate groceries typically abandon older parts of town with smaller buildings, no matter how rapid the stock turnover and how high the profit is. It's not just color that creates the food deserts, although it is a factor.

[RiverLover]

9. I hope it takes off too, Warpy.

My sis & I were just talking about how grocery chains are having to consolidate all across the country to be able to have the purchasing power to compete with Walmart and still be profitable.

I don't know if this contributes to the food deserts, but it seems like it might.

[Warpy]

14. It does, trust me.

My own area would be a food desert except for Walmart but the food co-op, a Mexican outfit and a chain health food store (not that one!) have opened up in the old, small 1950s era supermarket buildings. I end up doing most of my shopping at the health food store that opened up, very little elsewhere and Wally's for prescriptions and paper products.

[spinbaby]

43. Mexican groceries are great!

We had one open nearby in a low-income neighborhood and I've found them to be a great source for decent unprocessed food. Plus, they have a real butcher.

[NBachers]

31. Thanks for that information, Warpy- I went to the IGA website, and learned about

the Independent Grocer's Alliance.

I get a good impression researching IGA. It looks like an associated grocer's co-op. Interesting. I like how they bill themselves as "The brand for today's progressive independents."

[AtomicKitten]

10. Bravo! That is inspiring.

[riderinthestorm]

11. K&R and K&R and K&R!!! Love this story! Nt

[RiverLover]

46. Me too!!!!

Absolutely love it.

[Jesus Malverde]

12. There were a half dozen co-ops in SF, we are down to one.

This is actually not easy to pull off. I wish them luck.

http://www.rainbow.coop/about/history/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_Grocery_Cooperative

[Luminous Animal]

25. I love Rainbow and they seem to be doing well. Over the last few months, they've been redoing

the entire store and they've hired a few more people (I have friends that work there). There is also Other Avenues co-op on Judah but I think that is it. Whole Foods have driven out a lot of the co-ops and family owned natural and whole food markets… I fucking hate Whole Foods. They opened a store recently in my neighborhood and I worry about the family that owns and runs the local market that I also go to regularly.

[ellenrr]

39. I hate Whole Foods too and try to never shop there. In Princeton, NJ,

there is an independent store called Whole Earth Center which has been there since 1970, and seems to be holding its own against Whole Foods.
I like Whole Earth - bec. they are locally owned (but not a cooperative), their staff is friendly and knowledable, and their products excellent (and expensive)

it is an other-worldly experience for me to shop there - bec. everyone (customers) are white and very upper middle class. I always feel like I'm in a movie, cuz that is not my usual environment.

It would be great to shop in a Black-owned/operated cooperative.

[ellenrr]

40. I'm sorry to hear that! SF used to be a model liberal town, no more. We have

a health food grocery cooperative in my town.
It has been here for some 30 years, is always touch and go.
It has been kept going thru rubber-bands and scotch tape and the incredible force of volunteer love.
I don't know what I'd do if it ever went.

[CatWoman]

13. ...

[mnhtnbb]

15. There is a very successful coop grocery with stores in Carrboro, Chapel Hill and Hillsborough

called Weaver Street. It's been around for quite a long time. It's probably
only an hour's drive from Greensboro, so there should be a lot of experienced
people not far away who could provide some excellent advice.

http://www.weaverstreetmarket.coop/

[FrodosPet]

42. I noticed you don't have to be an employee to have an ownership share!

http://www.weaverstreetmarket.coop/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=13&Itemid=61

Becoming an owner is easy! Share prices are based on the number of adults in your household:

$75 one adult
$135 two adults
$175 three or four adults

Your one-time purchase is fully refundable anytime you choose.

Capitalism with distributed ownership is FAR better than either state ownership or capitalism with a small number of owners.

[Unknown Beatle]

16. WTF is this?

There are those who believe they cannot do these things because cooperatives will not work unless your community is wealthy enough, educated enough and white enough.

Those that believe those things are racists are are probably hoping that community-owned grocery store will fail so that they could say, "I told you so."

[Catherine Vincent]

18. God bless America!

[paleotn]

19. K&R....wonderful solution. (nt)

[demigoddess]

20. good idea! good luck!

hope you make money hand over fist and feed the whole neighborhood!!!

[mountain grammy]

21. With all my heart, I wish them success.

If I'm ever in Greensboro, I'll stop in.

[RiverLover]

41. That's great!

I would if I lived close by.

[Ramses]

24. imagine that community owned and operated

Cooperating together.. i think that may have something to do with eeeevill socialism...bet the local cops and chamber of commerce will do everything to harrass and intimidate them.

[FrodosPet]

34. Is it am employee-owned cooperative or a government owned store?

The former is a good thing, the latter is a bad one.

As progressives, we need to stand up against economic authoritarianism and central botching (I mean planning). Help support the separation of commerce and state while bringing OWNERSHIP pf economic entities to THE PEOPLE who have a stake in the enterprise, not to the bureaucrats and (s)elected officials.

[Brigid]

26. This is too great!!

We -- meaning the 99% -- are on our own. We gotta come up with solutions like this ourselves.

[ellenrr]

38. ++ exactly

[appalachiablue]

32. Good for Greensboro!

[Enthusiast]

35. K&R. This is a worthwhile project.

[ladyVet]

36. This is great!

The next time I get to be out and about, looks like a good road trip destination.

We have a co op grocery in my hometown, but sadly I've yet to visit it. I've been reduced to shopping at the cheapest place, an Aldi store. But I vow to visit and buy something, though I won't get the owner discount. Maybe I'll be able to join next year.

[ellenrr]

37. Beautiful!

[PeaceNikki]

48. We have Woodman's here in WI and IL which are employee owned.

I am a huge supporter. Their prices and customer service are fantastic.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodman%27s_Markets