Park Slope Food Coop More Profitable than Whole Foods

Waaait, so who does the profit go to at the Park Slope Coop? Because they don't pay salaries to any of their employees, it's all volunteers? That's what I want to know. Jerky capitalists they may well be, but Whole Foods employs actual people who receive salaries and thereby benefit from the place being in business.

Please don't tell me that there's some inner circle of like five founding hippies at the coop who are getting filthy rich off of the free labor of their members?

@Uraniumfish I was wondering the same thing... so I looked it up on their website. It says they share benefits equally, but doesn't mention the word "profits" per say. Wiki says the thing is run by a board of five people who are elected by members to staggered three year terms. I have a feeling the people the coop employs make more money than those who work at Whole Foods.... they do employ SOME people there.

I would really like to get to the bottom of this! Where do the profits go! Can you call yourself a coop without actually being a coop?

@BroadwayBK Seriously, their profits are in the MILLIONS. Who the heck is making all those millions? I really want to find out too. And the five-person board seems to be only the people who manage and run the daily operations, not the people who are raking in the cash, per se.

I want to get to the bottom of this too!

The people who are members of the coop make the "millions." Only because there are so many members, you don't really make any real return unless you belong for years.

No one is really "raking in cash" - a lot of that money goes back into running the business. I read somewhere that they use green energy to run the place, and the meat is fresh and relatively local (though I also heard they don't sell a lot of meat there), etc.

One of my roommates used to belong, and she said you don't see much return unless you continue to be a member for a long time. She also said the produce is amazingly fresh but that the place is soooo packed and you have to be sooo patient because the people who work there are all members and not very proficient behind a register. The real benefit of joining is the discounted organics. We all have to grocery shop anyway, so it seems like an investment worth making to me...

Still want to check the place out for myself, though.

@Uraniumfish What did they say when you went there?

@Uraniumfish you've raised some pretty valid points out there would be interesting to see what you find out if you manage to dig in deeper.

@Everyone has anyone joined the community supported agriculture program in NYC where for $475 a season,members get access to fresh produce from the local farms around NYC. I have never used it but have read about it - have a look
http://www.justfood.org/

@BroadwayBK Oh, I had been by some weeks ago just to find out about membership, but haven't been there since we started this post to ask about this profits question.

I hear this place gets so packed that nothing is worth being a member. Unless you have some sort of Zen-like patience.

Just came across this slightly related and hilarious tidbit:http://ny.racked.com/archives/2010/09/30/the_strange_case_of_the_park_slope_food_coop_hooker_dog_thief.php

My goodness, @uraniumfish! I'll be honest, the Park Slope Coop kind of creeps me out already, for some reason, but that just adds to the creepy factor! I'm slightly convinced the coop is made of pod people.

Well I never did sign up for that membership: not because of the weird woman but because the crowds really are a big drag. Just before the primaries I saw one of the local dem politicians standing outside the coop, shaking people's hands. It actually seemed clever strategically, considering how many people pass through that place in a day.

I have to admit that every time I walk past the coop there are a lot of strange-looking people hanging around. Can understand the pod people sentiments.

@Uraniumfish LOL though I can understand the Co-op being crowded all the times in these economically challenging times every one wants a deal!