Earlier this year we reported on Patrick Shabram’s deep data drive—market analysis that supports co-op startups and expansions (it’s available in the Columinate online Library). Expanding on that theme, I recently spoke again with Shabram, who discussed some of the key elements of market studies and noted his collaboration with key cooperative allies.
Location research consultant Patrick Shabram is a new Columinate member—welcome! Shabram has over thirty years of experience in store location research, market research, and Geographic Information Systems. His clients include both startup co-ops and established food co-ops planning expansion or relocation. Shabram summarizes his professional practice, using current research, as dedicated to providing accurate numbers that support informed decisions by the co-op’s planning group.
I enjoyed interviewing Vernon Oakes and asked him a few questions about his remarkable career. Vernon, tell us a few things to help Columinate readers know you better: people and places that are most important to you. My parents, Odell Oakes Sr. and Florrie Smith Oakes, met while serving in the US Army during World War II and married in New York City, where I was born. We later moved to Bluefield, West Virginia. I attended public schools, and due to a speech impediment, I was put in a “special ed” class in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Words and reading didn't come naturally to me, and reading still isn’t my favorite thing. But math made sense and would later help me to make sense of life and the business pursuits I had. School was tough due to the added factor of racism and integration in 1955, when I was entering the 3rd grade.
I was born to Jamaican parents in Hartford, Connecticut, and later migrated south with a company (the food retail group Ahold), landing in Ellenwood, Georgia. I was working as a commercial property accountant. My husband and I met in Connecticut during our music days as writers, performers, producers, and recording artists on the reggae scene. After our first son was born, we continued to produce and record music, literally changing diapers between recording tracks. Creating music is still a love for hubby and me, but now, creating in our home studio, it's more of a solace for me and personal therapy for both of us. We've also included cooking in our therapy toolkit. After almost forty years together, each moment is precious, and we're making the moments count. My dad has passed on, but my mom is about an hour away and loving life. Our sons are both young adults now and are amazing human beings. And I love to write; I'd love to publish a couple books one day.
Since its launch in the summer of 2021, the Columinate Compensation Database has gathered a wealth of data on management compensation in food co-ops.,The database covers not only general managers, but also managers on every level, from members of senior leadership teams to department managers in multi-store co-ops. As I hope this update will make clear, the more that co-ops participate and provide data, the more useful the database becomes to everyone.
Knowing where you draw your business from is a good idea; knowing how you’re performing in your trade area is even better. A Customer Address and Transaction (CAT) survey accomplishes both, giving you a valuable snapshot to inform marketing focus. It’s a straightforward analysis worth returning to time and time again.
As co-op leaders recognize that reinvestment in their business is critical to long-term sustainability, they need some tools to help them assess whether any particular reinvestment makes sense. When business expansion is on the list of possibilities, the risks are higher and so the assessment needs to be more rigorous. Leaders must certainly undertake adequate due diligence before finalizing an expansion project, but how [...]
By Rebecca Torpie, Thane Joyal 196 May-June 2018 What does it mean to be an owner of a consumer cooperative? At the most fundamental level, cooperative ownership means that we are in business together. And for the owners of a cooperative that is under substantial market pressure (and what business isn’t?), everything the business does needs to match the needs and aspirations of the community that [...]
By Rebecca Torpie 190 May-June 2017 Co-op boards and marketing teams can be like two ships passing in the night. Chances are they’ve crossed paths during election season and annual meeting planning, but contact beyond that can be very limited. At many co-ops, neither the board nor the marketing team truly understands the other’s role or perspective, and this can lead to misunderstandings, haphazard planning [...]
By Mel Braverman, Nicole Klimek, Jeanie Wells 184 May-June 2016 In the back of our minds we knew that [insert name of competitor here] was coming. It was only a matter of time before grocery chains would notice our happy piece of the natural foods pie. Co-ops are feeling squeezed, and it hurts. Increased competition may limit our profitability but may also limit our [...]
