Boise Co-op

Last updated
Boise Co-op
FormerlyBoise Food Co-op
Boise Consumers' Cooperative [1]
Type Food cooperative
IndustryGrocery
Founded1973
Headquarters888 W Fort Street,
Boise, Idaho
,
USA
Number of locations
2
Area served
 Boise metropolitan area
Key people
Ben Kuzma, general manager
Website www.boise.coop

Boise Co-op is a food cooperative founded in 1973 in Boise, Idaho, featuring natural foods from over 180 local and regional food producers. Since 2011 the cooperative has adapted to compete with Whole Foods Market and Natural Grocers in the Boise metropolitan area. [2]

Contents

History

The Boise Consumers' Cooperative was founded in April, 1973, as an organization of consumers who wanted to buy produce and bulk food items at wholesale prices. [3] The co-op received a grant of $2000 from El-Ada, a southern Idaho advocacy group that also provided the original storage and distribution space for the startup. El-Ada was funded with a grant from the Office of Economic Opportunity. [4] Gene Drabinski, an El-Ada community organizer, articulated the co-op strategy as having "no salaries, no manager, no secretaries. Everybody will share the load." [5] [6] The co-op elected a board of seven directors in May, 1973, and among the board members was Ken Kavanaugh, later the co-op's general manager. At the time, 65 families had joined the co-op. [7]

Soon the co-op moved to 1743 Broadway Avenue in Boise, a location near El-Ada headquarters, and in 1975 the 200-member organization moved to 1515 North 13th Street in Boise's Hyde Park neighborhood. [8] Members were asked to donate one hour per month to help with bulk food transportation and packaging. Grocery items included produce, dairy, grains, and canned goods. Most of the members were vegetarians, and meat was not offered in the store. [9]

The co-op moved in 1984 to a shopping area at Hill Road and Harrison Street, and in 1995 it moved into its current 26,000 square foot location at 888 West Fort Street. [10]

An early supporter of Idaho Power's green power program, the co-op installed skylights in its store to reduce demand for electricity, and it rerouted energy discharged by refrigeration compressors to its hot water tanks. [11]

In 2005 the co-op opened FlipSide Cafe near its store on Fort Street, but the restaurant was not profitable, and it closed within two years. [12] Then in 2007 the co-op wine shop opened, and in 2012 the co-op pet shop opened, both across from the main store on Fort Street. [13]

Employees considered unionizing in 2011, after longtime general manager Ken Kavanaugh was fired, but the union plan was not successful. [14] [15]

In 2015 at least 250 cases of salmonella poisoning were traced to food served at the co-op's deli. [16] Weeks later, health inspectors again found violations at the deli and in the co-op's produce department. [17]

Boise Co-op opened a second location in Meridian in November, 2015. Sales revenue was lower than expected at the new store, and the co-op laid off 18 employees the following January. Six employees at the Fort Street location also were laid off, and layoffs amounted to nine percent of total workforce. [18]

Annual Report

Boise Co-op has published its financial information for the past few years on its website. In 2018 the co-op counted over 31,000 members, including almost 3500 new members. Total assets were over $10 million, and sales for the year were almost $40 million with net income slightly over $800,000. Sales increased 11 percent over the year 2017. Nearly 19 percent of its 235 employees had been with the co-op for over 10 years. The co-op donated over $33,000 to 80 charities, and it conducted 65 workshops, classes, and tours. [13]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boise, Idaho</span> Capital city of Idaho, United States

Boise is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. As of the 2020 census, there were 235,684 people residing in the city. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is 41 miles (66 km) east of the Oregon border and 110 miles (177 km) north of the Nevada border. The downtown area's elevation is 2,704 feet (824 m) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 184</span> Interstate Highway spur in Boise, Idaho, United States

Interstate 184 (I-184) is a short auxiliary Interstate Highway in Boise, Idaho, United States. It is a spur route of I-84 that connects the freeway to Downtown Boise, terminating at US Highway 20 (US 20) and US 26 on the west side of the Boise River.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WinCo Foods</span> American supermarket chain

WinCo Foods, Inc. is a privately held, majority employee-owned American supermarket chain based in Boise, Idaho, with retail stores in Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, and Washington. It was founded in 1967 as a no-frills warehouse-style store with low prices. The stores feature extensive bulk food sections.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Treasure Valley</span> Metropolitan area and river valley in southwestern Idaho

The Treasure Valley is a valley in the western United States, primarily in southwestern Idaho, where the Payette, Boise, Weiser, Malheur, Owyhee, and Burnt rivers drain into the Snake River. It includes all the lowland areas from Vale in rural eastern Oregon to Boise, and is the most populated area in Idaho.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">District 208</span> Shopping mall in Idaho, United States

District 208, formerly Karcher Mall, is a shopping center located in Nampa, Idaho, United States. It originally opened as an enclosed shopping mall in August 1965 with Buttrey Food & Drug, Tempo, and Sprouse-Reitz as anchor stores. It was the largest shopping mall in the Treasure Valley until the opening of Boise Towne Square in Boise in October 1988. The shopping center is anchored by Big 5 Sporting Goods, Jo-Ann Fabrics and Crafts, Mor Furniture, and Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumers' co-operative</span> Autonomous association owned and managed democratically by its clients

A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Boise Towne Square</span> Shopping mall in Boise, Idaho

Boise Towne Square is a mall in the western United States, located in Boise, Idaho. The largest retail complex in the state, it opened in 1988 after more than 20 years of planning, and features 150 stores, with Macy's, JCPenney, Kohl's and Dillard's as anchor stores. The mall also includes the first Apple Store in Idaho. Boise Towne Square is owned by the Chicago-based Brookfield Properties and is located near the junction of Interstate 84 and Interstate 184.

A food cooperative or food co-op is a food distribution outlet organized as a cooperative, rather than a private or public company. Food cooperatives are usually consumer cooperatives, where the decisions regarding the production and distribution of its food are chosen by its members. Like all cooperatives, food cooperatives are often based on the 7 Rochdale Principles, and they typically offer natural foods. Decisions about how to run a cooperative are not made by outside shareholders, therefore cooperatives often exhibit a higher degree of social responsibility than their corporate analogues.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ridley's Family Markets</span> Grocery store chain

Ridley's Family Markets is a family-owned chain of grocery stores based in Jerome, Idaho, United States, with multiple locations around the Intermountain West.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PCC Community Markets</span> Food cooperative based in Seattle, Washington, US

PCC Community Markets is a food cooperative based in Seattle, Washington. With over 58,000 members, it is the largest consumer-owned food cooperative in the United States. Both members and non-members may shop at the retail locations, but members receive certain discounts. The organization currently operates fifteen retail locations. Eight of the fifteen stores are located in Seattle. The West Seattle location reopened on October 2, 2019. The other seven are located in Issaquah, Kirkland, Burien, Bothell, Redmond, Edmonds and Bellevue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Co+op Grocers</span>

National Co+op Grocers (NCG) is a business services cooperative for retail cooperative grocery stores located throughout the United States. NCG offers franchise-like services to food co-ops that help businesses optimize operational and marketing resources, offering coordinated branding; access to loans through a partnership with Capital Impact Partners; and bulk buying rates through the United Natural Foods (UNFI).

Nampa Gateway Center is a lifestyle center located in Nampa, Idaho, United States. The center is owned by Gardner Company and is anchored by Crunch Fitness, DEFY Trampoline Parks, House of Design Robotics, JCPenney, Shoe Carnival, and WinCo Foods.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Consumers' Cooperative of Berkeley</span>

Consumers' Cooperative of Berkeley, informally known as the Berkeley Co-op, or simply Co-op, was a consumers' cooperative based in Berkeley, California, which operated from 1939 to 1988, when it collapsed due to internal governance disputes and bankruptcy. During its height, it was the largest cooperative of its kind in North America, with over 100,000 members, and its collapse has provoked intense discussion over how food cooperatives should be operated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Valley Regional Transit</span>

Valley Regional Transit is a public agency which is the main provider of mass transit service in metropolitan Boise, Idaho. Nineteen routes operate in Ada County with seven of these providing six-day-per-week service in Boise. An on-demand service is provided in Canyon County. Four intercounty commuter lines are also offered. Both a peak hour express route and an all-day limited-stop incarnation of the same route connect Nampa and Meridian. Service also connects Boise State University with the College of Western Idaho in Nampa in which a third route directly links the two. A fourth express route only runs twice per day in each direction connecting Caldwell and Boise.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Boise, Idaho, United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Idaho Building (Boise, Idaho)</span> United States historic place

The Idaho Building in Boise, Idaho, is a 6-story, Second Renaissance Revival commercial structure designed by Chicago architect, Henry John Schlacks. Constructed for Boise City real estate developer Walter E. Pierce in 1910–11, the building represented local aspirations that Boise City would become another Chicago. The facade features brick pilasters above a ground floor stone base, separated by seven bays with large plate glass windows in each bay. Terracotta separates the floors, with ornamentation at the sixth floor below a denticulated cornice of galvanized iron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eichelberger Apartments</span> Historic NRHP building

The Eichelberger Apartments in Boise, Idaho, is a 2-story, Colonial Revival building designed by Tourtellotte & Hummel and constructed in 1910. The U-shape, brick and stucco design features corner quoins and keystoned windows with a roofline parapet covered between crested pilasters. It was included as a contributing property in the Fort Street Historic District on November 12, 1982. The building was individually listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 17, 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District</span> United States historic place

The Lower Main Street Commercial Historic District in Boise, Idaho, is a collection of 11 masonry buildings, originally 14 buildings, that were constructed 1897-1914 as Boise became a metropolitan community. Hannifin's Cigar Store is the oldest business in the district (1922), and it operates in the oldest building in the district (1897). The only building listed as an intrusion in the district is the Safari Motor Inn (1966), formerly the Hotel Grand (1914).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. Luke's Boise Medical Center</span> Hospital in Idaho, USA

St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, is a 437-bed hospital founded in 1902 by James Bowen Funsten, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Idaho. The hospital is part of St. Luke's, a regional healthcare system with six hospitals and more than 200 clinics staffed by roughly 14,000 employees. In 2017 the system received over 55,000 hospital admissions.

References

  1. ↑ "Foreclosures, Late Payments Pass Idaho". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. April 25, 1974. p. 37.
  2. ↑ Audrey Dutton (March 21, 2012). "Food-shopping options multiply in the Treasure Valley - Can the Treasure Valley support all these additional grocery stores?". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  3. ↑ "El-Ada Defers Aid to Three Programs". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. April 21, 1973. p. 6.
  4. ↑ "El-Ada May Go On after End of OEO". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. June 1, 1974. p. 21.
  5. ↑ "Food Co-op Adds 45 Families". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. April 13, 1973. p. 35.
  6. ↑ The Idaho Statesman described the era as the "hippy trippy days of 1973," see James Patrick Kelly (February 26, 2016). "Natural food stores flourish in the Treasure Valley". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Food Co-op Elects Board". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. May 25, 1973. p. 22.
  8. ↑ Alexa Howell (March 26, 1976). "Consumer Co-op Aids Families' Budget". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. p. 64.
  9. ↑ Vern Nelson (January 2, 1975). "Food Co-op Thrives as Membership Grows". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. p. 35.
  10. ↑ Audrey Dutton (March 5, 2014). "Boise Co-op signs lease for 22 more years, plans a second store". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  11. ↑ Ken Dey (April 6, 2003). "Green Power". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  12. ↑ Heath Druzin (December 17, 2006). "Boise Co-op to close FlipSide Cafe". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  13. 1 2 "2018 Annual Report" (PDF). Boise Co-op. Retrieved February 25, 2019.
  14. ↑ "Can Boise Co-op survive? Co-op says it can". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. November 18, 2011.
  15. ↑ George Prentice (January 14, 2011). "Fired Boise Co-op Founder/Manager Talks to BW". BoiseWeekly. Boise, Idaho. Archived from the original on September 11, 2016. Retrieved February 24, 2019.
  16. ↑ Erin Fenner (June 18, 2015). "Boise Co-op deli back in business; management speaks about response to salmonella outbreak". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  17. ↑ Audrey Dutton (August 7, 2015). "Health inspectors find critical violations at Boise Co-op". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
  18. ↑ Zach Kyle (March 15, 2016). "Boise Co-op lays off 24 employees". Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.