by Kristina Kuhaupt, Customer Experience Manager
The time has finally come after some unexpected construction delays in January to open our new community space, Aubergine. This space is located across the street from Willy East at 1226 Williamson Street. Our soft opening started up on February 5th with a full week of classes, starting with Mourning Dove’s Valentine’s Self-Care Yoga Circle, filled with body and mind-guided reflections, gentle yoga with self-love affirmations, and relaxation. Mourning Dove’s classes are always welcome to all bodies, identities, and abilities. If you have ever been intimidated to try a yoga class before, Mourning Dove eases those fears with movements that accommodate any skill level. Next, Chef Pâtissier Pierre Ferland, guided students on how to temper chocolate and make a basic ganache as well as give it distinctive flavor profiles. The room smelled wonderful with hints of chocolatey goodness permeating the entire space. Wrapping up the week, Willy Street Co-op’s own Mike Tomaloff introduced the unique culinary method of sous vide through the process of slow-and-low cooking that can transform your meals from special events to everyday dining. The Co-op offers many classes from talented instructors who make you feel more comfortable in your area of interest. If this sparks your curiosity to try something new, please check out all our class offerings, both at Aubergine and at our Community Room located in our Willy West store; you can find the list at willystreet.coop/events and on pages 6-8 of this newsletter. (See photos of Aubergine below.)
Aubergine is not only a space to take classes, it is a place for the community to gather. You can check out the space, view the work in the art gallery, book rentals, and ask questions with our Co-op staff. We will have open hours most Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am–2pm for the same purpose. If you are interested in renting the space for commercial kitchen or flex space use, please visit our Community Spaces webpage that provides pricing and general information about both our westside and eastside spaces at willystreet.coop/community-spaces.
We are excited to announce that our Grand Opening Celebration will take place on Friday, March 8th from 4-7pm, which coincides with CODAFest. We see the event as a great way to partner with our nextdoor neighbor in addition to being an event sponsor. We will be having appetizers, music from the Vincent Davis Quartet (playing next door at CODAFest starting at 5pm), and an artist reception with Roscoe Mitchell. The nice thing about our space is we have an adjoining door to Cafe CODA and you can pop in there as well! CODAFest continues until 9pm that evening so feel free to continue the festivities at their location once our grand opening concludes. Look forward to seeing you there and celebrate together!
Co-op Principle #8
As Gigi mentioned in her article, another upcoming change you will be seeing in our stores will be the adoption of Principle Eight: Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Cooperatives believe we are stronger when a proactive effort is put forth to engage everyone in governance, management, and representation. The original Seven Principles were written in 1844 in Rochdale, England. This new Eighth Principle is a positive acknowledgment of the direction we want to see in the world today, 180 years later.
This will look very similar to what you already see in our stores: staff and shoppers treating each other with mutual respect where everyone not only is welcome but feels welcome in our shared spaces. You may notice some updated signage in the upcoming months, but the spirit of the principle is something Willy Street Co-op has been doing for years; now we want to officially name it along with several other local co-ops in our area such as Viroqua Food Co-op and Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee, after the National Cooperative Grocers adopted the addition recently. Our General Management Team along with the Board has met to discuss the implications and the direction we want to see our Co-op take in support of this new Principle. This additional Co-op Principle parallels nicely with our Inclusive Environment Policy both for staff as well as shoppers that can be found in the front entrance area of our stores, production kitchen, central office, and Aubergine, and at willystreet.coop/inclusive-environment. If you are interested in learning more about all Eight Cooperative Principles, please visit: willystreet.coop/8-principles. Additionally, to see what your Co-op has been working on in the area of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, please check out willystreet.coop/DEI and our DEI Dashboard at willystreet.coop/DEI-dashboard.
Cafe CODA and Aubergine from across Williamson Street.
Mike Tomaloff teaching his sous vide class.
Vanessa Tortolano teaching a kombucha-making class.
Pierre and class attendees making truffles.
Mourning Dove preparing for a yoga class.