Message From The General Manager: Bill Bickford
As this newsletter goes to print, we have just concluded our 2021-2022 fiscal year. Annual reports will be made available in an upcoming issue, following completion of our audit, but what I can confidently share today is that your co-op has had its most favorable financial year in at least a decade. After a number of years spent treading water financially, store operations have now produced positive cashflow for several consecutive quarters. This is an enormous improvement over our performance just a few years ago.
While the co-op was also profitable in each of the past two years, it was only minimally so—and not enough to do anything particularly exciting. This year, we get to make the kinds of energizing choices that are only possible with strong financial performance.
For starters, we plan to pay our first staff bonus since 2015. It was difficult to impossible to pay year-end bonuses when the co-op was not operating profitably, so I am very excited to be able to do so this year. Our staff has absolutely earned it. The operational and staffing challenges of the past two years have not been easy to work through, and our financial performance this past year is a direct result of our staff’s combined efforts. I am optimistic that this will mark a return to the regular staff bonuses of years past based on continued profitability moving forward.
Additionally, I anticipate the board having the opportunity to consider issuing a patronage rebate for the first time since 2013. The ability to pay a patronage rebate back to owners based on their purchases is a privilege unique to cooperative businesses. Much like staff bonuses, patronage rebates are only possible when the co-op is financially successful. While the authority to issue a patronage rebate rests solely with our Board of Directors, I am excited to be able to explore this option for the first time in several years. At minimum, your board and I will have an opportunity to discuss how best to invest this surplus toward our co-op’s future.
While the above is exciting news to share, it’s important to remember that strong financial performance is much more easily lost than achieved. Last year’s performance was strong, yet the co-op still faces several financial and operational challenges moving forward—all the more reason to invest this surplus wisely.
Most importantly, sales and customer count continue to decline year-over-year. That fact, combined with high cost inflation and the continual need to increase staff wages, will ultimately either reduce or eliminate financial gains or force us to operate with fewer staff, which in turn will impact service. The only mathematical way to avoid that outcome is to increase sales, which must be our focus in the year ahead in order to produce similar year-end results.
To that end, if you have feedback on how we can better meet your needs or those of your friends and neighbors, we would love to hear from you. What can we carry that you have to go elsewhere to get? What could we do to make it easier for you to visit your co-op over a competitor? We would appreciate an email to [email protected] with your thoughts!