From: the General Manager

Lindy Bannister

Wow! 2008!

Shortly after our Annual Meeting and the announcement of the purchase of the Gardens of Eagan farm, we were made aware of a law that had been on the State books for many years that added complications to our purchase. The law, created to protect the family farm, forbade corporations from owning farms. We worked diligently with the Department of Agriculture to remedy the situation and were recently granted an exemption, which means the purchase will go ahead as planned. We are now setting up a non-profit that will run the educational side of the farm. As we go through the process of putting down on paper the objectives of this part of the project, we are seeing endless possibilities. Everyone wants to be involved, so we urge you to be patient with us as we embark on the journey.

Wedge Worldwide (your online store) is having record-breaking months in sales. New items are being added weekly to the inventory, so keep an eye on the website. Remember, you can now order online and pick up your purchases at the store. We will also be participating again this year at the Living Green Expo.

Co-op Partners Warehouse (CPW) is trying out some new endeavors as well. We have had a partnership for few years with a company called Cre8it that has started to bring us chopped and bagged organic produce. We are now stocking these items and are able to supply the co-ops in our distribution area with their packaged products. Cre8it has recently become certified organic and buy their produce from CPW. It is an experiment, so tell us what you like or dislike, and we will keep that in mind as we move forward. We are already looking at changing the bags based on your feedback.

As for the store, well there are some changes on the horizon there, too. We have listened at member forums and to survey feedback and hear you saying we are looking a little tired in our surroundings. So, we are going ahead and redoing the floors, updating the customer service center and replacing the check stands. The first part of our redesign was the new logo followed by new signs (still in process in some departments). As we refresh the store interior, we will be changing the colors of the pillars and fixtures. Goodbye to teal and burgundy.

The last big change you will see this year is that we are moving away from offering plastic grocery bags at our check stands. For the past couple of years, members have let us know that they feel this change is needed to be responsible stewards of our planet. We have sourced a great reusable bag that we will sell at our cost of $1.The paper handle bags will still be available, as will the smaller paper bags, free of charge. We have spent hours discussing our options and will make the change in March. At this time, we are only talking about the plastic handle bags at the registers, not in the bulk sections.

We always look forward to your interest in what we are doing and appreciate your input on these ideas.

- Lindy Bannister