The Charles River Food Co-op recently announced it has been adding members since it started offering shares, and has a goal to enable it to take the next step toward opening a food store in the Watertown area.
The Co-op sent out the following information:
We now have over 300 paid members, which is very exciting! Our members come from Waltham, Watertown, Newton, and beyond. A huge THANK YOU to everyone who has already joined us. For anyone who is interested in becoming a member, you can do that here: https://charlesriverfood.coop/join.
Our next milestone will be getting to 500 members so that we can move onto the next step: conducting a market study and a preliminary feasibility study. We have set a goal of 500 members by October 31, and you can help us reach this goal by spreading the word to your friends, family, and coworkers. You can do this by simply forwarding this email, by printing and posting a flier on a local community bulletin board, or by sharing our posts on social media.
One of the resources we are using to guide our journey is the Food Co-op Initiative’s Guide to Starting a Food Co-op. This helpful resource outlines the key stages and activities that need to be done to launch a successful food co-op. The market study and preliminary feasibility study are critical components to ensure we are planning correctly both from a financial perspective and from a market perspective. The Guide says: “getting expert market research on a site and location is your best insurance that you are opening in the right place and the right size for your sales potential.” This next step will allow us to better understand our market potential and to start defining our goals for our eventual physical location.
Currently we’re in need of a volunteer bookkeeper or accountant. If you have this skill set and are interested in finding out more about this volunteer opportunity, please email us at info@charlesriverfood.coop.