From the Board of Directors: Expansion Update

by Kellie Hill – Board President

Awning construction prior to MFC’s Grand Opening in August 2011.

It seems like we’ve been talking about expansion for a very long time, and from a distance it may seem like not much is happening. Actually, the Board has been working diligently to move this process along.

To begin the process there was some standard prep work to complete before we could even consider an expansion. Updated bylaws and Articles of Incorporation were both passed by the owners so we could sell shares to raise the money to raise the roof. There were many hours of work put into preparing what we hoped was the best version of each of these pieces for our owners to vote on; the whole process took almost two years and is now completed.

The Board has been carefully considering all of Medford Food Co-op’s expansion options. Could we buy land and build a building or did we need to lease? Would a landowner offer a “build to suit” option? Could we be in a partnership with a landowner? Could we lease to own? We looked at what we hoped was every option that was available to us. We called on owners with professional backgrounds in pertinent areas to help us work through this process. Ultimately, we decided right now our best option is to find a good location, build or remodel and lease. From a financial perspective, this currently makes the most sense to ensure the continued growth of our beloved cooperative.

At the same time, we started evaluating many, many, many (did we say many?) locations. With the word out of our expansion considerations, locations were being brought to our attention in rapid succession. We looked at every site recommendation with open minds.

The Board chose to hire the National Co-op Grocers (NCG) Store Development Group to help us decipher sales forecasts, potential budgets, likely financial outcomes, and possible risks. Since MFC is a member of NCG, we are confident they will help guide us in our best direction.

A few of the locations looked promising enough that we wrote a letter of intent. This is the first step to being able to get further financial details from a property owner. Unfortunately, when those numbers were put into a financial projection, the Board didn’t feel comfortable with the potential financial outcome and we passed on these locations.

Recently, General Manager Anne Carter and Board President Kellie Hill took a trip to Astoria, Oregon to see the newly built cooperative there. Anne and Kellie were able to spend a number of hours with Astoria’s General Manager to learn what was working and what they would do differently. We were impressed with the design of the Astoria Food Co-op. It’s smaller than what we initially had in mind for a new store; however, it felt more spacious. Building a new store of similar size would meet our needs, allow us to expand our offerings, provide space for the staff, give room for growth, and maintain the “quaintness” that our owners like about our current store. We’re looking at how to repurpose their design.

We’re still working on a possible location. We can’t specify these details just yet as we’re waiting on a survey of the property and estimated numbers for a pro-forma. Fingers crossed this option will be the one where we can start designing a building and kick off a campaign to raise the money for our beautiful new expanded Co-op.

In the meantime, know that we haven’t forgotten your request to expand the Co-op, our offerings, and our impact on the community. We are working on it.

As always, feel free to reach out to your MFC Board at any time via email board@medfordfood.coop or join us at our monthly meeting. We’d love to hear from you!