GM's Corner: The ‘Sharing Economy’ Is Nothing New

by 
Jon Roesser, General Manager, Weavers Way Co-op

Principle 6
Cooperation Among Cooperatives

 
Cooperatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the cooperative movement by working together through local, national, regional, and international structures.

When I started working for the Co-op eight years ago, I had to get used to a few things. Having previously toiled for nearly 15 years in the corporate sector, I was used to a fancy office space, quiet weekends and having to get my shirts pressed.

At the Co-op, my dress shoes are sneakers, senior managers share work space in what were once kids’ bedrooms and “weekends” are when most of the fun stuff happens.

But of all the things that were different, nothing was more so than this:

A few months into the job, my former boss, Glenn Bergman, asked me, “So, what have you done to help other co-ops?”

Well, until that point, absolutely nothing. But it turns out “helping other co-ops” was, and is, a fundamental part of my job.

Cooperatively owned businesses operate within the framework of the seven International Cooperative Principles, which serve to distinguish us from our competitors. The sixth principle, cooperation among cooperatives (“P6,” as we call it), obligates us to work in consort with other co-ops.

As a result, we devote time, resources and money to businesses independent of our own. This, to the corporate mind, is an alien concept.

Currently, we are fulfilling our obligations under P6 in a truly meaningful way: Our Mt. Airy grocery manager, Kathryn Worley, is serving as the interim general manager at Creekside Co-op in Elkins Park.

Creekside is our closest co-op neighbor, about 5 miles from our Mt. Airy store. Slightly bigger than our Chestnut Hill store, with a unique mix of conventional and natural products, it’s worth a field trip.

I do most of my shopping at Weavers Way — working here makes that pretty easy — but Creekside’s my go-to for items we don’t carry. So if I can’t buy my V8 juice, Nutella and Heinz ketchup at Weavers Way, at least I can buy them at a co-op.

Creekside anchors an almost impossibly quaint village clustered around the Elkins Park train station. Were it not for the SEPTA trains racing by all day long, visitors could be excused for thinking they were in Lincolnshire or suburban London.

Since Creekside opened a few years ago, the village has prospered, and new restaurants and shops have been launched. Creekside has filled the void left by the closing in 2002 of the family-owned Ashbourne Market, much like our Chestnut Hill store filled the void left by the closing of the family-owned Caruso’s.

In short, Creekside is fulfilling its role not just as a grocery store, but as community hub. The people of Elkins Park are justifiably proud.

But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing for Creekside, and one thing they’ve struggled with has been a turnover in leadership. So when Creekside’s most recent general manager announced his departure — just before Thanksgiving — there was serious concern about a lack of leadership during the crucial holiday season.

Folks at Creekside called us and we were able to respond with Kathryn, who’s been a Weavers Way stalwart for more than three years.

Kathryn is being leased to Creekside, and this assignment serves a dual purpose: Creekside gets the leadership support it needs while they search for a new GM, and one of our all-star employees gets a professional development opportunity to prepare her for the next stage of her career.

Cooperation among cooperatives! I hope Glenn is proud.

P6, of course, works both ways: As we have helped other co-ops, so have other co-ops helped us.

Over the years I’ve asked for, and received, support from co-ops all over the country. Sometimes it’s a quick phone call to get a question answered. Sometimes it’s resulted in other co-ops offering us their personnel, their sales data or their professional expertise. None of this support has ever cost Weavers Way a nickel.

For example, if you like Senior Tuesdays and your EasyPay house account, know that these are two ideas Weavers Way borrowed from Creekside, who helped us get them set up.

P6 is one more way the cooperative economy is fairer, kinder and more equitable. Let our for-profit competitors slice each other apart. I’d rather cooperate.

See you around the Co-op.