An Eye Towards the Co-op's Future

By Clem Nilan, General Manager

Hot off the press… We’ve been working these past few months with a co-operative consultant to consider opportunities for a second store. You might remember that back in early November, some of our staff members were in the Co-op’s exitway gathering customer data. This was but one small piece of our market study. We’ve just received the results of that study evaluating our second store opportunities. What you’ll read below is the rationale for our considerations:

Rationale: The good news is that we have a very busy Co-op. The bad news is that our very high sales per square foot performance level (as compared to other co-ops) may negatively affect our customers’ shopping experiences and perhaps staff morale. The consultant also reported (and this isn’t news to anyone) that our Co-op’s parking capacity is a challenge. A crowded store and parking lot are predicted to hamper our Co-op’s sales growth in future years. The situation then renders our Co-op more vulnerable to possible future competition especially if the new competitive store has more favorable site characteristics (such as parking).

Recommended Strategy: In order to promote future sales growth to protect our Co-op and to provide sales relief to our existing store, this market study recommended that a second co-op store be considered within the Burlington market and in close proximity, i.e. about 1 mile from our existing store. A second store has the potential to not only improve the shopping experience at our current location, but also to reduce our Co-op’s vulnerability to existing and future competition.

Recommended Location: The study examined three potential sites: the Archibald Street area in northern Burlington, downtown Winooski, and the Pine Street corridor in southern Burlington. Among the three areas under consideration, the Pine Street corridor was recommended as the optimal area for a second store.

To be clear, we presently do not have a second store location identified. In a large and detailed project such as second-store planning, the market study is the first step in the process that may take up to two years to complete. We will be considering potential sites in the near future and as they become available.

The market study affirms that our community has the capacity to support a second store. Pine Street is identified because it’s the most fiscally viable location based upon a multitude of factors. Our Board policies (avoiding financial jeopardy) lead us to favor a more viable location over a less viable. For those of you that were hoping for a store in Winooski or near Archibald Street, perhaps at some future point a third store could be placed in either one of these two areas. The Pine Street corridor is not without issues and open questions (like the southern connector), so we still have some careful and deliberative study ahead of us.

That's it for now; you’ll be hearing more from me on this when I have more information to share.