Write Us!
We welcome your comments and give each one attention and serious consideration. Send them to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or fill out a Customer Comment form in the Owner Resources Area. Each month a small selection is printed in the Reader; publication does not necessarily indicate an endorsement of views stated in a customer’s original comment. Many more comments can be found in the commons or in the binder near Customer Service. Thank you!
Cranberries
Q: I always loved the Terra Farms cranberries. Some of the substitutes have been pretty bad. The Verona WI premium cranberries were quite good but now you don't even have those. Hope you can solve the dried cranberry issue. Thanks.
A: I appreciate you reaching out regarding our cranberry selection here at Willy West. I’m sorry that we have been out of stock of your preferred brand during your past visits here.
With Tierra Farms no longer producing their package goods, our dried fruit selection got hit very hard. We have been trying to fill the void with brands that are available to us, but we’re finding that the quality tends to vary based on the batch and the brand.
We plan on continuing to carry the Verona, Wisconsin Premium Cranberries long-term. Unfortunately, due to the holidays, they have been out of stock from our distributor. My hope is that they will be back in stock sometime soon, but they haven’t given us an ETA for when they’ll be expected back. Once they’re back in stock, I will reply to this email.
As always, if there is a specific brand of cranberries that you would like to see on our shelves, please let us know.
Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks! Dave Andrews, Grocery Manager—West
Full-Time Grilling
Q: As longtime members, my wife and I have enjoyed many tasty meals from the grill. We look forward to ordering lunch after purchasing our groceries and are always pleased with the quality, value, and delicious food that we receive. Lately we haven’t been fortunate enough to shop on a day that the grill has been open and we’re writing to voice our desire that the grill operates full time again.
A: We’re glad to hear you enjoy the hot sandwiches from the grill at Willy West! We’ve received a lot of feedback from customers about wanting to see this come back, unfortunately we haven’t had the staffing necessary to keep it open consistently along with our other Deli services we currently run.
We do intend to bring it back eventually, but we want to be able to offer it when we know we can keep it open reliably. When we reopen it we will make an announcement and post about it on social media to get the word out so everyone knows. Follow us and stay tuned!
In the meantime, you can regularly find the following hot sandwiches in our Grab & Go hot merchandiser at West: Bacon egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, Sausage egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, Veggie breakfast sandwiches, Vegan breakfast sandwiches, and Breakfast wraps.
Thank you, Renee Strobel, Willy West Deli Manager
Adding Someone to Ownership
Q: I am currently a solo primary owner. I would like to add another person to the ownership and make them primary owner and I would become secondary owner. Is this possible?
A: Thank you for your question! You are able to add another person to your account and make them the Primary and you the Secondary Owner. Adding a person to your account will change your account from an Individual to a Household account type and will require an equity payment be made. If you are interested in making this change, please fill out the form that I have attached to this email. I have highlighted all sections that need your attention in yellow and have filled out the rest of the form for you in blue. The completed form can be returned to the customer service desk at any of our retail locations. When you turn in the form they will take an equity payment and make the requested changes to your account. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions or if there is anything else I can help you with. Have a great day! -Rosalyn Murphy, Owner Records Administrator
EBT
Q: Do you accept EBT cards for payments?
A: Thank you for reaching out to us with your question. Yes, we do accept EBT cards for payment at all of our locations! In addition to accepting EBT, we also offer some great programs for customers with a financial need.
First, we offer what’s called our “Access Discount Program.” This is a Co-op Ownership that has a reduced annual payment (as low as $4/yr), and offers shoppers a 10% discount on everything in the store.
In addition, we also offer another great program called “Double Dollars.” On Tuesdays from October until March, for every $5 you spend on your EBT card, you are awarded a $5 Double Dollars coupon (up to $20). These coupons can be used to purchase any fresh, frozen, or canned fruits and vegetables. You can redeem these coupons any day of the week all the way through the end of May.
Thanks again for your inquiry, and don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any more questions! - Jonathan Hopp, West Front End Manager
Case Ordering
Q: Can members order cases of products for a discounted price? For example, I’m interested in 25 pounds of organic walnuts, 10 or 20 pounds of whole cashews, a case of organic olive oil (approx 6 16-oz bottles), bucket of organic peanut butter, case of liquid laundry detergent, etc. Our buying club is closing, sadly. Thank you.
A: I am sorry about your buying club! One of the benefits of Ownership at Willy Street Co-op is indeed a 10% discount on bulk orders. An addendum to that: if the item you pre-order is on sale, either when you place the pre-order or when you pick it up, you will receive the sale price or the pre-order price, whichever is less.
You are welcome to call in the pre-orders or stop by the Customer Service desk at whichever store you wish to pick up at.
Specifically to the products you are asking about, we do not carry bulk organic walnuts at this time, but we do have conventional (25lb bag). Raw, organic cashews come in 25 lb bags (some other iterations like roasted salted come in 20lb bags). There are a number of options for olive oil and the laundry detergent in the store. Customer Service or a Grocery staff person can help with options and how much is in a case of any particular product.
I’m afraid we no longer carry larger containers of any peanut butter brands, but you can fill any size container with our organic bulk peanut butter from the nut grinder.
Again, please email us back, call with questions, or stop by the Customer Service desk at any store if we can aid you further.
Thank you, Kjerstin Bell, Customer Service—East
Thank You
Q: Thank you, everyone at Willy St Co-op North, for providing a wide variety of groceries (and other items) and especially for the Commons which has a welcome fire in this cold season, interesting art and newspapers and a place to sit and relax. Hope the year to come is good.
A: Thank you so much for taking the time to write in with your kind words. We are so happy that you feel so welcome in the store and enjoy our product selection at Willy North. We did not come to the decisions alone, and before we even opened up the north store we asked the customers in that neighborhood to let us know what they wanted to see on the shelves. It is an ongoing process and we are always happy to hear what people want to see in their Co-op! I am also so happy to hear that you enjoy the coziness of the commons—the North store is so lucky to have that fireplace. We are proud to display local artists’ work in that space too, and they get to display their art for two months at a time! Please stay tuned for more new artwork throughout the year. Take care and may this year be good to you also. Sincerely, Amanda Ikens, Owner Resources Coordinator
A+ Human
Q: Henry was a wonderful person today when I was checking out. He was friendly and gave a helpful recommendation and showed caring for his fellow cashiers. A+ human being.
A: Thank you for taking the time to jot down your experience. What a lovely comment to receive, you can be sure I will pass this along to Henry and the team. Best, Katie O’Connell-Jones, Owner Resources Coordinator
More Parking
Q: Please add more handicap parking near your entrance at the West store.
A: Thank you for your comment. I agree that the Middleton parking lot can use more accessible parking spots near our entrance. I contacted our landlord in regards to this needed request. I received a reply and it’s a topic of interest that will be discussed for a possible project in 2023. Stay tuned! Frantseska Kois, Assistant Store Director—West
Looking Good
Q: I usually shop at Willy East and stopping by North today, I wondered if the same people were doing the endcaps/display merchandising. The East reorganization was amazing and the store has looked incredible since, especially due to the merchandising. North side looks great too! Only a small complaint, was coming by just to have soup in the cafe and there was no vegan soup today. Also.... no kung pao tofu. Was told it would be in on Thursday.
A: Thank you so much for writing in about the remodel and the merchandising. I too have been very impressed with our Purchasing Department and team, who is in charge of all of that work. I shared your comment with the Director and she said she will share it with her team. The stores really do look incredible and I hope you get a chance to stop out at the West location, they also did some merchandising changes out there too! As for the soups, I am sorry we did not have a vegan option. We try to make sure that there is at least one vegan soup option every day, As for the king pao tofu, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the Production Kitchen is discontinuing that product. It is a very slow mover and they want to focus on our eli items that are seasonal, and best sellers. I do know that we can share that recipe with you, as you are an Owner, if you would like. Thanks again for writing. -Amanda Ikens, Owner Resources Coordinator
Tortillas
Q: Hello! Reaching out to ask what type of tortilla is used in the to-go wraps at the Willy St. Co-op. Specifically, the red curry tofu wraps and the avocado tempeh wraps. Are they sold in-store?
A: Thank you for writing in! We use Indianlife brand tortillas to make the wraps we sell in our Deli department. We really enjoy their large size and find they are less likely to tear than other brands.
Unfortunately, we do not sell them on the shelves at any of our stores right now. We have offered them in the past but they just didn’t sell well enough for us to continue to offer them. Gratefully, Bob Smith, East Deli Manager
Bagging
Q: Here’s a thought. Have the people checking out customers actually make an attempt to bag the items. Over and over, they just stand and stare, as a customer bags their own items...like we are wasting their time, for the next customer.
Whole Foods bags or at least asks if needed....Willy just has people waiting for the customer to leave in a sense. (bag your own stuff and leave) No thank you, no care, person at register just waits and stares, all the time. Why should I chip[ anymore? Its become a lazy version of any type of store.
A: I just received your feedback about your experience at our store in regards to bagging, and wanted to thank you for reaching out to us, as well as to apologize for your experience.
As a general rule at the registers, our cashiers should always be asking if you would like assistance bagging. I will be touching base with my staff to reiterate this expectation in an effort to ensure that going forward, they are asking every customer that comes through their line.
Once again, I apologize for your experience, and thank you for your feedback.
Take care, Jonathan Hopp, Front End Manager—West
Patronage Refund
Q: Thank you for your email. That is a very small “store credit” after the “patronage equity “ is deducted—wonder if there’s a mistake because I was informed last year that i had paid off my equity share in full.
So anyway why is there now a big “patronage equity “ being charged? Please let me know. thanks and have a great day,
A: Thanks for your email! At the risk of talking about some things you already know in my attempt to fully answer your questions: the patronage refund and store credit are calculated based on the amount you spent at the Co-op in our last fiscal year—the more an Owner spent, the more they’ll get back in the form of a store credit.
Ownership equity isn’t a factor in calculating your store credit—whether you’ve only made one payment toward your Ownership equity or you’ve paid it in full (as you have), it wouldn’t affect how much your store credit would be.
As they have with previously distributed patronage refunds, the Board voted to retain 80% of the patronage refund in Owners’ names and distribute 20% in the form of a store credit. That retained 80% helps us to run the business more smoothly than we could without it and to keep us financially sound. If the Co-op were to dissolve in the future for some reason, that 80% could be paid out to Owners.
Please let me know if that’s still not clarifying things! I’m ccing our Owner Records Administrator in case she has anything to add—or correct me on. Have a nice weekend! -Brendon Smith, Communications Director