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Harvest co-op is toast by August unless it raises $300,000
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Comments
That really sucks
I love their presence in the neighborhood, and what they're trying to do for the local economy, but the JP store at least seemed doomed from the word go. The location doesn't get a ton of foot traffic (it's far enough away from both JP proper and Roslindale Square that you wouldn't walk there on a lark, unlike the old location on South Street), and their prices make even a super-JP-yuppy like myself pause. Both locations are facing competition both on prices (there are Targets near both now) and on market segment (Whole Foods near Central Square and in JP), and I would imagine rents in both locations are skyrocketing as the areas continue to gentrify.
I'll do my best to support the JP location, but $300K in 3 months is a tall hill to climb.
Shame
It's a shame to see the idea go away, but they never really executed very well. When you visit Wheatsville in Austin, TX or Willy Street in Madison, WI you see what a local/coop grocery store could be and you understand why Harvest is struggling.
could you elaborate
could you elaborate, for those of us not in a position to travel to another state for context?
Difference
The key difference is the outstanding prepared foods/hot bar options at Willy & Wheatsville. Harvest used to be much better about this before their central square location moved. From what I understand that category is a major money maker.
You get drawn in for the quick dinner options and end up picking up some groceries while you are there.
Volume is needed though
If you go into prepared food and then don't move it, it's a great way to lose so much money so fast vs. stuff which can sit on shelves for a few days (fresh groceries) or weeks (shelved goods)
Chicken/egg situation if you will.
So if Harvest JP isn't really killing it with traffic now, they could easily blow through money even faster.
Prices are not that bad
On what, specifically? I don't find their prices to be bad, certainly not in comparison with City Feed or Whole Foods.
Does one need to be a member
Does one need to be a member to shop there? How does the whole membership thing work? The idea of a non-profit grocery store interests me greatly but once you start adding memberships (withcommitments?) then it starts to get too complicated, I just want some groceries.
Nope
Anybody can shop there. It's basically a grocery store like any other grocery store, except you can buy a partial share of ownership for some totally nominal fee. (I think it's like $200 to buy into? Don't quote me on that, it's been a few years since I last enquired) . That membership entitles you to discounts there, a share of the profits if the store does well, and also gives you a vote in any plans the board makes about the future of the store. If you're not a member, it's just a place to buy your oatmeal and spinach.
It's a cool model: the community owns a big part of the store where they do their shopping, so the money stays in the local economy. I'd be really sad to see it go.
And you can buy equity a bit at a time
$25/yr until the $200 is paid off, and you can get the discounts right from the beginning. So it pays itself off pretty quickly if you make at least one purchase per year...
A while back, membership used
A while back, membership used to be about $20. Then they hired a fancy consultant who told them to raise it to $200.
It’s open to the public.
Anyone can shop there. Membership gets you a discount.
Great little markets! I really hope they survive.
Membership not required
But there are benefits to joining. We have paid $25/year for the past several years to be members. We get 10% off our bill (less the beer/wine) once a month on a date of our choosing.
http://www.harvest.coop/membership/overview/
We do the vast majority of our food shopping between the Harvest and the Roslindale Farmers Market. I think the bulk bins at the Harvest are much more reasonably priced than those at WF. I will say, though, the selection on some things (like fresh fish/seafood and toiletries) has been waning...so it's funny to me that the letter recommends buying more body products. I totally would if they were there to buy!
I will be super sad if they close.
Forrest Hills
It must be very hard for the businesses in FH right now. Currently the place is a mess, especially around the Dogwood where it seems like there is maybe one part time worker redoing the sidewalks in front of their space. However, in the next 18 months or so, there will be hundreds of new residents between the Ukraine Way building and the Arborway parking lot project just north of the Dogwood strip. If a business can hold on those 18 months, there will be an immediate upswing in local customers. I do wonder how much loss of that parking lot will hurt the Dogwood. I mean, we need the apartments more than parking but it can't be great for their weekend business.
That all being said, this is a tough spot for car retail and it's also a tiny bit far from the nearest bus stop on Washington St isn't it? So it's in no man's land for now.
Once the Forest Hills
Once the Forest Hills construction is done, are they going to evaluate whether the intended goal of stitching the neighborhood back together has been achieved? For example, will more people from north of the Arborway walk to businesses south of it, once the overpass has been replaced by many more surface lanes?
Forrest Hills of the future
Ultimately the station occupies a necessary amount of real estate north to south so while the road is wider, it's not like the distances between residents on South St and say, the Dogwood or Harvest, was ever going to change. As long as the crosswalk lights are long enough, I don't see an issue.
They should have build a pedestrian/bike overpass of course but that ship sailed years ago.
Can you still use Bitcoin to
Can you still use Bitcoin to pay there?
Meh.
I've never been super impressed with quality or prices. And now, with the Jeff Bezos-Washington Post-Whole Foods dropping theirs, it would seem to be hard for a place like this to survive.
When they abandoned the owner
When they abandoned the owner-worker-shopper model way back when, the commitment level of “members” really took a dive. Members really had no idea how the business was doing until they heard awful news like this story.
There was little reason to shop there beyond convenience, and the move of the JP store definitely made it less convenient.
Perhaps going back to their roots as a coop and bulk buying club scheme would let them continue to exist. The crazy Whole Foods/Amazon retail shopping realm isn’t something a small community market can compete with.
People have raised more on a Kickstarter than they’re looking for, so here’s hoping they can pull it off and find a niche that will keep the stores alive.
If it does go under
then I'll be looking to help re-establish a bulk buying club like Millstone Co-op in Somerville used to run.
I no longer live in a co-op house, so I won't be needing the 25 lb bags of wheat flour, but it's nice to be able to order from UNFI's full catalog without relying on a local store to have it in stock.