The Co-op Food Stores of New Hampshire and Vermont

added 01/03/12

by Kay Litten, Board President

For the seven and a half years that I have served on the Hanover Co-op’s Board of Directors, the financial drain of the Co-op Service Center has been a matter of regular concern. Last spring, one of our gas tanks started to leak, and although the staff and management exerted herculean efforts in seeking ways to repair the tank, repair turned out to be impossible. The resulting quotes for a new tank and the work associated with the tank’s replacement amounted to roughly $250,000.

Management first brought the issue to the Board in April, 2011, and we discussed it through the rest of the spring and summer. At the November board meeting, General Manager Terry Appleby explained that after going over various scenarios for several months, and considering that both gas sales and car repairs have been operating at a loss for years, management was recommending that the Board vote to close those two branches of the Co-op’s business.

This discussion was both painful and fraught with concerns. Many members and local residents, including several board members, rely on these services. Nonetheless, believing that we have been elected to be faithful keepers of the Co-op’s well-being—especially its financial well-being—we voted to support the decision of the management team. None of us want to be in the position of putting our beloved co-op into fiscal jeopardy. The board voted, unanimously, to close both businesses.

Management notified first the employees of the service center and gas station and then posted notices of the businesses’ closings in all stores on Monday, November 21, for both employees and members. The Valley News ran a front page article on the closings on Tuesday, November 22. Although both Terry Appleby and I were quoted correctly, the story did contain several inaccuracies.

And then we were all swept up in a state of extreme brouhaha. Both Terry and I received endless phone calls, and we spent a week answering e-mails from members who ranged from extremely irate to merely concerned to completely supportive of the decision. We knew that we had to find a way to speak to members. Terry proposed a series of two-hour afternoon meetings in the Board Room of the Hanover store on Monday through Friday, December 5th through 9th.

Terry Appleby, Chief Financial Officer Tony Alongi, and several Board members attended each day. Director of Operations Tony White joined the group on three days, and I was there from Tuesday through Friday. On Thursday and Friday, we met with the most vocal and largest groups.

These afternoons produced a combination of appreciation for a great business and fine stores and intense dismay over the decision to close the two car-related parts of the Co-op. We heard all sorts of positive comments, but at least 80 percent of the contributions were very negative and focused on the closings.

At the end of Friday’s session, Terry asked to speak to the three board officers who remained at the meeting. He told us that, after endless consultation with Alongi and White, he had decided to ask the Board to reconsider its vote and to make a motion to direct management to take one year to explore and consider various ways to keep these departments of the Co-op from losing money. If, at the end of a year’s valiant efforts, no progress is made, the vote to close them could be brought up again.

So, the members spoke clearly of their concerns, and management and the Board are now working together to find ways to keep operating those parts of our business which have caused so much recent angst for some of our members. Stay tuned!