AIBA Member: Wheatsville Food Co-op
It is rare for a grocery store to try to make the world a better place, but Wheatsville Food Co-op is sincere in its mission to do just that. With its commitment to local producers and providers, its generous charitable activities and its goal of being the friendliest store in town, Wheatsville is setting a mighty fine example for the rest of us to follow.
Wheatsville is the only true community-owned grocery store in Austin, and has been since 1976. General Manager Dan Gillotte explains that the store's commitment to local producers and providers benefits the community in several ways. By offering a wealth of local produce, baked goods, dairy products, meat, beer and a long list of other items, Wheatsville's owners and customers are able to stretch their local buying dollars just by shopping at the co-op. In turn, local farmers, bakers, ranchers, beer makers, etc. are able to grow their businesses.
Many local vendors have gotten their start at Wheatsville. The store was able to provide technical assistance as well as retail space to Red Rabbit Cooperative Bakery, for example, and now Wheatsville is the bakery's biggest venue. The brew masters at Kosmic Kombucha have thanked the store for its support by naming one of its flavors -- "Wheatsville's Pear of the Dog" -- after it. And Johnson's Backyard Garden was able to increase their acreage in part due to Wheatsville's solid business. The co-op offers samples of local products in the store almost every day and tags items that have been grown or produced locally with the exact number of miles between that items' origin and Wheatsville's shelf. Gillotte said, "We've been doing the local thing forever. It's become popular lately, but we will always do it."
Wheatsville sets an admirable example in the charitable activities department as well. Last year the co-op gave $52,000 to local charitable organizations, which amounts to 20 percent of its net income. This year they expect to exceed that amount to the tune of $60-65,000. In addition to giving to such organizations as the Sustainable Food Center, Urban Roots, The Green Corn Project and The Capital Area Food Bank, Wheatsville participates in special programs, such as sponsoring the field trip program for Urban Roots and being the title sponsor for Austin Park Foundation's "It's My Park Day." Annually, 11,000 Wheatsville members across Central Texas vote for ten non-profits to support throughout the year. Each month the store lends support by collecting monetary donations, organizing item specific drives such as toiletries for Safe Place or easily digested foods for Hospice Austin and participation in charitable events such as an evening spent sporting food donations at the Capitol Area Food Bank. One percent of total store sales every Wednesday goes to a different charitable organization each month. Shoppers may also choose to round up their purchases and give that way.
Finally, as if all that goodness wasn't enough, Wheatsville works very hard to be the friendliest store in town. Gillotte said, "Our goal is to help transform society to being more kind, generous and hospitable. We like to think that we can turn the chore of going grocery shopping into the highlight of someone's day." He said staff members treat one another with kindness, vendors get treated to cheerful enthusiasm and owners and customers receive the benefit of this culture of genuine hospitality. Even kitchen repair workers have commented on how nice it is to do business with the folks at Wheatsville. Gillotte said Wheatsville management thinks about "customer unfriendly policies" and tries to eradicate them. When asked where ownership comes into the picture, he said, "It's easy for us to think differently about our customers because they are our owners. It is an end, delivering good service to our owners by being friendly and kind to them. It's a much more subtle ownership. We treat them like family when they come to visit."
Despite Wheatsville's serious mission to make the world a better place, it's still a really fun place to shop. Given the breadth of its offerings and the cheerful vibe, Wheatsville is redefining grocery shopping.
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