Somebody hand you a banana at Capitol Hill Station? They’re part of the #coopthestation campaign to help the E Madison-headquartered Central Co-op win its bid to be the anchor grocery store at the 85-foot development slated to rise around the Broadway light rail station where empty pavement sits today.
Now, a group of members from UCFW 21 — “the largest private sector union in Washington State” and representative for Central Co-op’s nearly 100 unionized employees — have sent an “open letter” to Gerding Edlen partner Jill Sherman calling on the developer to “do better by local workers and choose a union grocer where workers have a voice on the job, and earn a living wage.”
The full letter is below. Central Co-op, by the way, is a CHS advertiser.
Labor groups and District 3 rep Kshama Sawant have already come out swinging against Portland-based developer Gerding Edlen’s consideration of Portland-based grocery chain New Seasons for the light rail project.
UCFW 21 Open Letter posted by CHS
Don’t know that I have a dog in the fight, but the Co-op would do well to treat its customers better if it wants to win the spot. I do care about union jobs, and local business. But I also care about not being served by holier than thou grocers who seem to think they’re living a better life than I am. Has anyone else had a poor experience at the co-op up by Trader Joe’s?
I like the Coop, but I hope the developer selects New Seasons for this space. New Seasons is a one stop shop. It carries a much broader selection of inexpensive staples in addition to fresh local products. I like the Coop in their current space, which I highly doubt they would leave open, despite what they are telling the public, if they open a new store in such close proximity.
the Co-op is planning on leaving the exising store open in addition to a second store at the light rail station, should the developer select them
I vote for New Seasons as well- I have friends that live literally across the street from the new station, already regularly shop at the Co-op and would probably benefit from more of a selection. Don’t get me wrong, the Co op is my holy grail, but I would rather have my money going to the cause of making sure we have quality vendors and community outreach versus massive expansion. Makes me nervous.
LOL. Gerding Edlen is a Portland based development company. Where were all the Local Only folks when they were selected last year? Why does anyone care whether the grocer is from Seattle or Portland? It’s the PNW. Besides Coop is a dump compared to New Seasons. It’s obvious this is about the labor Union’s campaign donations to Sawant and other Council members, not that New Seasons is from Portland. Ridiculous.
Why all the hate on the Co-Op? I have never had a bad experience there. New Seasons? Never heard of it. How can you compare?
While I’m happy for you that you’ve never had a bad experience at the Co-op, the comments here as well as comments on Yelp suggest that they are pretty common. As far as New Seasons goes, they have a lot of locations in Portland so it’s not unrealistic to think that people commenting on New Seasons have been there while visiting Portland or living in Portland.
If these pressure tactics work to overthrow New Seasons, we can all enjoy high prices with bad customer service with the co-op. Not all of us are upper class white people with money to burn, so hopefully New Seasons opens somewhere nearby.
Also, has Sawant researched NS? For all the protesters know they may be better than the co-op for workers.
Sometimes the far left and far right are equally blind in making their ideology fit the situation no matter what.
It makes *total* sense to develop subsidized housing alongside a grocery store most people can’t afford to shop.
Indeed.
Really hoping for a New Seasons. It will be better for the community to have both the co-op in its current location and a New Seasons at the station. More variety, more competition. I hope the folks making the decision about this don’t cave to an extremely vocal minority and deprive the rest of us of a nice store and a nice choice.
I live near the Capitol Hill Station and am familiar with New Seasons. They strive to integrate and become part of the Community, they are community minded. They are affordable for consumers and have excellent customer service policies. They treat their staff well and employees are content working there.
New Seasons offers a wide variety of products within their stores which is badly needed in the neighborhood. For the entire Broadway strip, all residents really have is QFC. We need other affordable options that offer a wide selection of products.
I hope the developer sticks with New Seasons. It would be a perfect fit for the neighborhood and space because they carry top shelf and cheaper alternatives. My friends in Portland speak very highly of New Seasons as a market and ethical business.
The Co-op’s average rating on Yelp is 4 stars, out of 5.
I live very close to the Co-op and so I shop there several times a week. Staff are always helpful and friendly, with a very, very few exceptions. So for anyone who is a recent and regular shopper at the co-op who doesn’t get good service, your customer service expectations might be on par with those of an oligarch, or you might be a jerk who doesn’t make it easy for people to help you. Or you might not actually have any experience at the co-op.
As for pricing…I went out of my way to shop the coop years ago because it was more affordable than other neighborhood choices. I do make more money now so I’m not as price sensitive as I used to be, but old habits like watching what I spend and comparing prices with other places die hard, and prices still strike me as reasonable compared to other stores. These days, it has regular sales at very good prices, so for anyone who is a regular shopper, it’s pretty easy to stock up when staples get marked down, etc.
So, even if you don’t care about decent wages and working conditions for staff, anyone asserting that the co-op has bad services and is soooo much more expensive….I don’t believe that you shop there on any regular basis and so don’t believe that you have a valid point of comparison. I’ve shopped at New Seasons and nope, they are not less expensive on average. They do, however, have a track record of not treating their staff well. That’s not a good community member.
I find it odd that there are so many NS supporters in these comments.
Is the New Seasons PR team spamming this comment thread? I love the co-op; I can always find what I want and the staff there are super friendly. I support them and their potential expansion!
Well, I’m not a shill. Just a Capitol Hill neighbor for 15 years who does most shopping at the Co-op and shopped primarily at the PCC when I lived in north Seattle. I think the co-op is great. On the other hand, there’s nothing about them that makes me support the developer favoring them above some other store that would bring more consumer choice to the hill.
BTW, I would be more inclined to favor a business slightly based on recruitment and support of women and minorities in management positions. The co-op does just as bad a job at this as any other company, so I don’t find them especially worthy of special consideration for their contributions to progressive society.
For me, it’s a clear choice – I love my co-op and would love to see them grow, especially as an alternative to a non-union store! Count me in.
No. I am not a shill for New Seasons. I do believe that there is no inherent virtue in union vs. not. The purpose of a union is to help ensure decent wages and conditions in situations where they may be lacking. Most businesses are not unionized and the majority of them do right by their staff, while many a union setting is an effort to address noxious situations and may not always be successful. I am just responding to the very positive vibes I experienced at New Seasons when I visited it. Nothing against a coop.
In the end, the developer I assume will decide based upon their own criteria and won’t be bullied by a few blog posts or demonstrators. It will be a business decision as they won the development rights and won’t be micromanaged by the individuals who have taken no risk and have no skin in the game.
Other than the apparent sin of not being a union shop, nobody has shared anything negative about New Seasons.
I shop at New Seasons on Hawthorne when I’m visiting family in PDX, they’re fine but pretty expensive and don’t have the low priced commodities that Mad Market has. Their alcohol selection is also way too big, something that kinda bugs me in a grocery store.
Co-op yes, been a shopper there for 15 years and I’m a proud union member (WA Nurses). I’m not sure about the negative experiences of other shoppers, I’d say you all are a wee bit sensitive perhaps? They pay a living wage and are actually pretty affordable.