Back to school, back to routines. Back to packing lunches and backpacks for your little ones heading out on their first days of the school year. There is no shortage of back-to-school lunch staples and after school treats at our retails—check it out!
Equity Drive In October: You Own It, Go All In!
As you all know, as Owners you have the option to invest your equity in the Co-op all at once or to select a payment plan. But did you know that investing your Owner equity in full helps you and helps your Co-op? Investing your Owner equity in full helps save you money on administrative fees for collecting payments and strengthens your Co-op’s financial equity. A strong cooperative investment in equity allows us to finance more of our major expenditures, such as anupcoming expansion of our West location, internally instead of borrowing from others. Next month you can help us celebrate National Co-op Month by participating in our Equity Drive, when we will try to raise $50,000 in Owner equity throughout the month. If you haven’t paid your Owner equity investment in full, October will be a great time to show your co-op loyalty and invest fully in our widespread support of the greater Madison community and your business. Administrative fees will be waived for all equity payments in the month of October, and all Owners with their Owner equity investment paid in full will be entered in drawings for prizes. Many Owners are already fully invested, and we appreciate your support. Thank you!
Willy East Beer & Wine Application
As I reported last month, Willy East is in the process of applying for a license to sell alcohol. We plan to offer a small selection with a focus on locally produced beer, as well as wine and cider. This is in response to years and years of requests to bring back these products (we used to have a license to sell alcohol at 1202 Williamson Street), and we have finally determined to move forward with plans to do so.
We applied for our license in mid-July and the neighborhood meeting, which is part of the licensing process, was held Tuesday, August 8th. Sixteen people were in attendance. We will be meeting with the Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) Preservation and Development Committee, and then with the MNA Board, probably at their September 21st meeting. The license to sell alcohol will go before the Alcohol License Review Committee in September or October, whose recommendation will then go to the Common Council. At the time of writing this update, the details of the exact meeting dates have yet to be determined, and we will keep you posted about the process.
Willy North outdoor seating area update and more
The construction fencing for our Willy North outdoor seating area project was installed in mid-August, and if all goes according to plan (and the weather cooperates), by the time you receive this issue of the Reader, you will see a dramatic and exciting change to the front of Willy North. Landscaping will be tackled after the curb and patio are complete. Thank you, Bachmann Construction and Skidmore Property Services! And, also to the Bruns, Northside Town Center property owners, for their part in making this project happen.
Another update regarding Willy North—the number one ask from shoppers at Willy North was that we offer fresh juice and coffee drinks and made-to-order sandwiches. In anticipation of fulfilling these requests, I am excited to announce that our plans for the installation of a sandwich counter, as well as a juice and coffee bar, are nearly complete. We expect work to begin on these installations at the end of September or in the beginning of October.
Special store hours and dates to think about
We will beopen until 7:30pm on Labor Day, Monday, September 4th.
No regularly scheduled Board of Directors meeting in September; the Board has scheduled their annual retreat for Saturday, September 16th. The next regular Board meeting is Tuesday, October 17th at 6:30pm.
