The Latest News from Wheatsville

Eden Organics

Wheatsville Food Co-op has been receiving comments in the store and via social media regarding Eden Foods CEO's position on the Supreme Court's "Hobby Lobby" decision on June 30th, 2014. Eden Foods has expressed support for the Hobby Lobby ruling, and filed a similar complaint of its own against the U.S. government.

In response, some customers have inquired if the co-op would consider pulling Eden Foods products from our shelves. As a cooperative grocery, Wheatsville doesn't pull product in response to any political issues.  Our co-op serves a very diverse customer base and there are individuals on both sides of any issue. Instead, decisions on whether or not to pull products are made through the petition process, outlined in our bylaws, as a way for owners to address these issues in an open and democratic manner. Below is the section in our cooperative bylaws that pertains to this process:

3.3.3 Petitions Any matter that the owners wish to put before the ownership via a Co-op Vote may be placed on the ballot by a petition signed by at least 500 or five percent (5%) of the total number of owners in good standing, whichever is fewer. Proposals initiated by such a petition shall be included in the next regularly scheduled Co-op Vote, except that if a petition is signed by at least 1,000 or ten percent (10%) of the total number of owners in good standing, whichever is fewer, then the Co-op Vote shall be scheduled to commence no sooner than thirty days and no later than 60 days from the date the petition is submitted.

In order to have this, or any other matter considered on the next ballot, Wheatsville members would need to submit a petition to the Board of Directors by August 1st, 2014 with the next election cycle beginning September 1st, 2014.

As always, we encourage our customers and members to vote, on this and other issues, with their dollars by supporting those companies they like and believe in.  When (for any reason) products don’t sell, the co-op stops carrying them.

Opening Day

'Like rain after a long drought.....' is how some die-hard co-op shoppers described Wheatsville's store opening this morning at 4001 South Lamar. The morning started off with torrential downpours but warmed and cleared as our friends, neighbors and shoppers started to trickle in for the morning festivities. Our General Manager, Dan Gillotte, Store Manager, Bill Bickford  and Board President, Rose Marie Klee all welcomed the gathering crowd and reminded everyone about the reason we're in business.

We're in business, and we're expanding that business, so that we can make a difference on things that matter to us. Our BIG Direction Goals are to:

• Create More Local, Organic, Sustainable Food
• More Co-op Economy and
• More Happy People

As the co-op profits, so do the the things we stand for and support. We are here to support our local economy, to build community and to support more local, organic, sustainable food.

Our second store was opened by all in attendance pulling a streamer - a community-style ribbon cutting, put together by Rosie Weaver. Everyone has a hand in what we do here - so it seemed fitting that everyone had a hand in opening the new store.

Our store is successful because YOU. Over 13,000 owners, shoppers, neighbors, friends, community groups, fellow cooperators and staff - all working together to make this cooperative a very special place in Austin.

Our rainbow has officially reached the other side of the river!

More photos of our BIG Day can be found on FaceBook.

4001 South Lamar OPENS!

We couldn't wait ONE MORE DAY to open and share this store with you and we have a feeling you couldn't wait either.... so we've got some EXCITING NEWS we'd like to share!

Come celebrate the opening of our second store at 4001 South Lamar FRIDAY, September 20th, at 7:15AM!

Join us as we mark the opening of our second store with a special ribbon "cutting" ceremony that we need your help to "pull off"!  After the ceremony, we'll open at 7:30AM and help wake everybody up with FREE organic fair-trade drip coffee 'til noon! Come early stay late, you'll be glad you did!

We couldn't be more excited to throw open our doors and bring the friendliest store in Austin to all our friends in South Austin! With this expansion, we will be able to Create More Local/ Organic/ Sustainable Food, More Co-op Economy and More Happy People! That's the reason we're in business - and we couldn't be happier seeing our BIG Direction vision become a reality!

Of course, part of not being able to wait to open means that we still have a few areas that need a little work, but we're hoping you don't mind. Our front entrance and canopy will be going in before our Grand Opening Party on October 19th and we'll be adding more and more delicious deli foods and our bakehouse offerings over the next week or so. (Don't worry, you can get Popcorn Tofu on Friday! We wouldn't open without that!)

I am so excited to finally be able to tell you WE ARE OPENING and invite you in to help us celebrate this historic occasion 30+ years in the making!

Now that you're the first to know, feel free to tell your friends and bring them down, too!!! See you soon!

Wheatsville’s second store will feature many new and welcome additions including:

• 25,000 square feet of space total / 14,500 sq. ft. retail
• Over 35 state-of-the-art, zero energy,  Solatube lights which direct natural sunlight into the store using highly reflective fiber optics
• Large skylights that allow natural light into the store
• Energy efficient LED lighting which will auto-adjust according to light needs throughout the day
• 2500 sq. ft. Artisan Bakehouse that will begin baking bread for both stores within a month of opening
• A Community Room, hosting informative classes, demos and tastings
• Comfortable indoor and outdoor café seating
• In-store composting and recycling bins for customers
• Bike Parking, Bike Repair Stand (with tools) and showers for bike commuting staff
• Locally made Kosmic Kombucha and Maine Root soda on tap
• Made to order burritos, sandwiches, coffee and smoothies
• Humanely and sustainably raised meat and seafood
• Cruelty-free Wellness products
• Humanely Raised Meat including Farmer’s Market favorites like Richardson’s Farms and Windy Hill
• Sustainable Raised and Harvested Seafood

Grand Opening Celebration on Saturday, October 19th from 12pm-4pm which will include music by The Hot Texas Swing Band, kids activities and lots of local food demos and samples. 

Sunny Days at Wheatsville

Lots of things are happening at our 4001 South Lamar store! From painters to electricians, we've got everyone working hard to help us get to our doors open mid-September. After so many months of planning and care, we're finally rounding the corner into the homestretch and all of us are starting to get really excited. Now that we have our grocery shelves, ceiling tiles and registers in place, it's starting to feel more and more like an honest to goodness store!

One of the most awesome green features at the second store is that we have SO MUCH natural light. We've got a handful of bright skylights, but the bulk of the sunshine directed into the store comes from over 35 Solatubes. These state-of-the-art green "lights" use highly reflective fiber optics to carry sunlight from the outside - inside. They use ZERO energy and act like mini skylights all over the store without making Swiss cheese out of our roof. In fact, the majority of the light you see in the picture below are Solatubes and skylights! The rest of our lights are LED's and will auto-adjust, giving us just what we need, when we need it! So, not only will we have a brightly lit store, but we'll be saving energy for years to come! WOOHOO!

4001 South lamar NOW in 3-D!

We are all very excited about opening at 4001 South Lamar and wanted to share the latest interior and exterior plans, PLUS this awesome 3-D model of the store! Can't wait to replace shadowy ghost people with YOU!

Here's the floorplan:

Our new store is going to include:

• In-house Artisan Bakery making fresh bread every day!
• Eat-in dining area plus a shady outdoor patio!
• Locally Made Maine Root Soda on tap!
• Kombucha on tap!
• Burritos made to order!
• Ample bike and car parking!
• Bike Repair Stand with Tools
• AWESOME selection of fresh, local & organic produce!
• Community Room for demos and classes!
• Tiny carts for the kids!
• And our happy, smiling staff eager to give you great customer service!

Our tentative opening date is September, 2013. Stay tuned!  Looking forward to seeing you soon!

Making our Vision Concrete

Lots of times, folks don't realize just how complicated a modern grocery store really is. But the infrastructure it takes to run a store like ours efficiently is actually quite elaborate. My managers and I recently had the chance to see for ourselves just how complex the systems are that run our store as we walked around the construction site planting well wishes from you! The dirt floor is carved up with a maze of trenches that are laid with plumbing, refrigerant lines and electrical conduit. These will run all the systems that provide the products that you want from our coolers, freezers, kitchen and bakehouse.

Later this week, all of these things will be covered with our new concrete floor! From there things will really begin to move as interior walls get put up, equipment starts to arrive and get set up, our sinks and bathrooms get installed and so much more!

We're all so excited to be moving ever closer to opening our store at South Lamar and we really appreciate your enthusiasm, support and yes, patience. As with most contraction projects, we have encountered some delays that are going to push our opening back to late August. As much as this disappoints us, it also gives us even more time to prepare our internal systems so that when we do open, you and all the new folks visiting get the most amazing experience possible. We really want to hit a home run with this store, so taking a little more time to do it just right seems worth it!

I also want to take the opportunity to thank all of you who wrote well wishes to us. It means a lot to get such an outpouring of good wishes and love to help us set 4001 South Lamar off on the right foot. And, those well wishes will forever be a part of the new space as they will soon be embedded and covered by concrete!

One more  thank you to all of the amazing Investor Shareholders. As of this writing, we have raised over half a million dollars from 50 Owners who are able to invest in their co-op. We really appreciate their commitment! It's not too late to invest. If you are a current Wheatsville owner and able to invest $5,000 or more and would like a packet of investment information please email Christine at invest@wheatsville.coop

More photos from our recent trip to the new store can be found on FaceBook. Or keep up with us on Instagram!

Progress

New bakery getting plumbing and main store getting trenching for plumbing. WOOHOO!

Hold on South Austin! We’re coming as fast as we can!

April 5, 2013
Today, I put the final order in for our food bar and the vent hoods for our kitchen and bakery areas! Earlier this week we made final decisions about the colors of our refrigerated display cases (silver outsides, black interiors for those of you keeping score) and secured a soda fountain from our friends at Maine Root (they’ll be selling us their locally made fountain beverages and lemonades)! These are just a few of the decisions that we’re making every day to build the best possible co-op store for ’04 and beyond.