Our work as grocers is constantly changing, so the methods and mediums we use to communicate must be agile. To that end, this will be the last printed issue of Connections.
Your Source for Local Turkeys
Save the Date! Annual Co-op Meeting
Find More Value with New Lower Prices
The Merc Co+op Considers Expansion in Kansas City, Kansas
Black'S Oil - New at the Co-op
Going to Kansas City
After 44 years, your community-owned food co-op is ready to multiply! Your co-op’s Board of Directors and management have achieved alignment to sign a non-binding letter of intent to open a store at the corner of 5th and Minnesota in downtown Kansas City, Kansas. This alignment has been built through a year’s worth of visioning, conversations and feasibility.
Seeking Inclusion Within the Board of Directors
“Everyone Welcome” is a motto the co-op adopted many years ago. We posted it on signs outside the co-op and marched with it on banners in parades. But, this invitation to shop and share in our cooperative is such a tiny piece of the larger work that we must do to become a co-op that truly represents the individuals and needs within our community.
Information About Thursday's Closing
Calming Herbs for Stress Relief
Why Collagen Can Benefit You
What is Ashwagandha?
Fair Trade for Farmers and Our Future
This May 12th, in over 70 countries around the globe, we celebrate World Fair Trade Day and the hard work, resilience, and innovation of small-scale farmers and artisans.
And this May, Fair World Project is partnering with brands committed to working with farmers to bring home deals on their fair trade products along with offering more opportunities to get involved.
Spring Celebrations
CMEF Receives Grant to Help Fund New Garden Project
It's Easy Being Green
Sensational Berry Smoothies
Here Comes the Sun
Naturally Dyed Eggs
Egg dyeing is a fun way to celebrate this time of year—and it's a tradition that goes way back—as much as 5,000 years when Persians celebrated springtime with eggs colored with plant-based dyes. Plant dyes can be just as useful today and they're plentiful; in fact you very well might have dye-worthy ingredients in your kitchen already.
Here are some great plant-based dyes—fruits, vegetables, spices and flowers.
Continuing the Work for Livable Wages
By Zac Hamlin, Human Resources Manager
In the winter issue of Connections I wrote about the ways that your co-op was changing in order to offer livable wages and create more co-op careers.
There were early successes with this experiment. I am proud to report that those successes continue to roll in. Turnover has ground to a halt, and nearly all employees have completed the trainings required to earn the livable wage rate. While we continue to fine tune operations, our next step is mitigating the wage compression created by our new approach to compensation.
According to the Kansas Department of Labor wage survey (and prior to implementing our Livable Wage Initiative), The Merc Co+op was already leading the market in frontline worker pay and lagging the market in supervisory pay. Despite that, your co-op chose to invest labor dollars into frontline staff, and asked supervisors to wait. Tenured staff and supervisors understood that this was a tall order, that the work would be more difficult and the reward unclear.
“It takes a village” is a saying that applies to your co-op as well. The woman that codes invoices and the fellow who orders apples are just as critical to our success as the stocker, cashier and barista that you see on the forefront. Their tasks may be less visible, but their contribution is no less valuable.
Growing sales, customer count and new owners are the things that offset labor expenses, and that’s where you come in. Thank you for choosing to shop our co-op! Your participation makes it possible to recognize, retain and reward staff on all levels of the this organization.