Join Us: A Proposal for a Second Food Coop Store

Dear fellow Park Slope Food Coop member:

As you may know, the Park Slope Food Coop has a committee that is actively researching the possibility of a second store in addition to our current location on Union Street.  The Second Location Study Committee invites all Coop members to learn more about the research, ask questions, offer ideas, and participate in this process.

You can use this link to RSVP for one of the two Coop-wide informational Zoom meetings—on Saturday, April 1 at 10 a.m., or Wednesday, April 19 at 7 p.m.

These sessions will be hosted by the Second Location Study Committee which will discuss its report and recommendations regarding opening a second store in addition to our current location on Union Street.

These meetings are additional opportunities outside the General Meeting for members and staff to talk about the study, ask questions, and share their concerns.  The meetings will be two hours maximum and include 15-minute presentations by the Committee followed by question-and-answer sessions.  Charlie Rogers of the PSFC Chair Committee will moderate the events.

We know not everyone can attend these meetings, and there will be more chances to learn about this research and contribute your input — at a future General Meeting as well as the opportunity to offer feedback by email to secondlocation@psfc.coop.

That said, the more the merrier — and the Committee looks forward to active engagement as this research takes shape.  You can register online for the Zoom meetings on April 1 at 10a and April 19 at 7p.

Please feel free to send any questions or comments for the Committee to secondlocation@psfc.coop.

Additional Background

The second store was discussed at the November 2022 General Meeting and the Committee has since followed up with email correspondence and three informational zoom meetings with approximately 40 members and a meeting with the PSFC Equity, Access, and Community Committee.

The report and cover letter are on the Food Coop’s website.  Two recent pieces in the Linewaiters’ Gazette on the second store were published, one in the November 2022 issue and another one in the December 2022 issue.

Committee Proposal

The Committee’s proposal to the GM would authorize a referendum that would take place within a few months asking all Coop members to:

  • Move forward with the vision of opening a second store that meets our location and budget guidelines
  • Create a Second Location Steering Committee to do this and ensure that is committed, diverse and representative of Coop stakeholders
  • Make sure it makes financial and practical sense before moving ahead by working within a $20 million project budget and setting up the process to raise the necessary investments from Coop members and other sources

Next Steps in the Process

After these meetings, the process would unfold as follows:

  1. The Committee will bring its proposal (previously presented at the Nov 2022 GM and to be further discussed at the two April 2023 meetings held by the Committee) back for a vote by the General Meeting.  The Agenda Committee has been asked to include this on the May 2023 GM.
  2. If approved at that future General Meeting, the proposal would move to a Referendum of all current members that will decide if and how the Food Coop opens a second store.  This referendum would, on this timetable, be held this summer to approve or disapprove the recommendations in the Second Location Study linked to above.

Please feel free to send any questions or comments for the Committee to secondlocation@psfc.coop.

In cooperation,

The PSFC Second Location Study Committee