Columinate’s Interim General Manager (IGM) services have yielded very positive results at People’s Food Co-op (PFC) in Ann Arbor, Michigan. While under contract as IGM, Chris Morris has exercised a wide range of skills to work with the existing team and turn around a wavering operation. Morris was hired in early January and ends his contract with PFC on May 30.
Independent grocery stores—mom-and-pop shops, food co-ops, and nonprofit-run markets—face unique and persistent challenges. From thin profit margins to limited formal training, retail leaders often find themselves navigating complex work with little support. Mighty Community Markets Grocery Bootcamp, presented by nationally recognized consultant and former general manager Jeanie Wells, was created to directly address key challenges faced by community-minded grocers across North America.
Mighty Community Markets Grocery Bootcamp returns this May for its sixth iteration, featuring new content and an updated curriculum that reflects industry trends. The program, which has served 200 leaders thus far, is dedicated to supporting small and independent grocery stores, providing essential training and development to help leaders better serve their communities.
The job of a food co-op general manager (GM) is one of the more unique and challenging roles in the grocery industry. GMs manage their staff, report to a board of directors of many bosses speaking as one, and are responsible for a wide variety of functional areas within their business. At any given moment a GM must be knowledgeable about margin strategy, marketing, HR compliance, or fixing a coffee brewer. A GM likely makes dozens of decisions a day and needs context and subject matter knowledge to inform each one. They’re at once operating a for-profit business and stewarding a community asset. In short, it’s a lot.
In the ever-evolving landscape of retail grocery, effective leadership is paramount. Effective leadership doesn't just happen—it must be nurtured and cultivated, equipping emerging talent with the right tools, training, mentoring, and support. Cooperatives as well as other independent grocery stores face unique challenges in a post-covid world, and new challenges emerge frequently. Retailers must remain courageous and steadfast in making the necessary changes to prepare, build, and sustain a strong future.
As the cooperative grocery industry continues to grow, many stores are looking at hybrid models: a mixture of natural foods and conventional grocery. New Columinate consultant Andre Chavez has so much operational experience in both natural and conventional grocery that he could be considered a hybrid unto himself.
The concept of pay equity affects all co-ops, no matter who their general manager (GM) is. The ability of our stores to attract, train, and retain quality candidates creates a rising tide for all co-ops, especially as Principle 6 mandates our collective cooperation. Columinate’s Compensation Database is a remarkably helpful tool that enables general managers and boards to understand how their compensation package compares to similar stores throughout the country.
Timing is key to any recipe. Cook things too long and they burn. Wait too long to add an ingredient, and it may not cook all the way. Before you prepare to cook a new recipe, you give yourself ample time for the work of reading the recipe directions, cutting, chopping, and measuring ingredients. That way, when the beautiful chaos of cooking begins, you’re prepared for each step in the process.
Molly Phipps, welcomed to the Columinate consultant team in 2023, has centered her career around three key passions: food, people, and the natural environment. As a result, this warm and analytical cooperator’s resume exhibits an eye-catching variety of job titles, including evaluation and research associate, farmer’s market manager, board member, and lab manager. The breadth of Phipps’ experience and her leadership in planning/evaluating strategy are sure to generate a positive impact for co-ops in the grocery industry as well as for resident-owned communities in manufactured home parks.
Tomlin’s on-site evaluation of the deli department and the existing conditions helps to set a baseline for what is working and what systems need to be adjusted or created. Her experience both in kitchens and as a general manager (GM) herself gives her the ability to translate what she sees to what the GM needs to learn to see. “It can be small things that tell you big things. Is silverware stocked? If not, that means the deli (staff) hasn’t come out to refresh the salad bar in a while,” Tomlin explains.
