They do not help shoppers unload their carts, and are not supposed to receive tips. Walkers accompany them, and then return the carts back to the store. Shoppers can use the Coop’s big sidewalk-friendly carts to transport their bags and boxes home, to their cars, or to nearby subway stations and bus stops. The most visible members of the Shopping squad are the orange-vested walkers, a frequent sight in the blocks surrounding the store. The music comes in three main flavors: aged hippie (Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley) Gen-X hipster (eighties hits, Curtis Mayfield, P-Funk) and millennial hipster (indie rock, Frank Ocean.) Current pop, hip-hop and EDM are vanishingly rare, as is classical music. The Shopping squad leader has control over the music that plays over the PA system in the shopping floor. Shoppers bag their own purchases, and since the Coop pointedly does not provide plastic or paper bags, they must bring or buy their own tote bags, or use empty boxes. Volunteer workers can be slow and disorganized, though also friendlier and more sociable. Checkout at the Coop is a notably different procedure from the grocery store.
The Shopping squad includes the checkout workers and cashiers entrance workers who check membership IDs and make sure that shopping members are in good standing and exit workers who check receipts as a nominal check against shoplifting. Members work a variety of different jobs, but most belong to the two largest squads, Shopping and Receiving. The only periodical available is the PSFC’s own Linewaiter’s Gazette, which resembles a high school newspaper. There is a conspicuous absence of candy, magazines, soda, marketing aimed at kids, and branding and marketing generally. The environment feels markedly different from a typical grocery store. Per the web site, the store carries “local, organic and conventionally grown produce pasture-raised and grass-fed meat free-range, organic and kosher poultry fair-traded chocolate and coffee wild and sustainably farmed fish supplements and vitamins imported and artisan cheese freshly baked bread, bagels and pastries bulk grains and spices environmentally safe cleaning supplies, and much more.” The PSFC generates over fifty million dollars in sales revenue per year, with a “shrink rate” (merchandise lost, damaged or stolen) of about half the industry average. The aisles are narrow, stacked floor to ceiling with inventory. The PSFC is managed by a core staff of paid employees, but members perform much of the day-to-day labor, which helps keep costs low. This is unusual-most food coops give members the option of paying a membership fee rather than working. Only Coop members are allowed to shop, and members are required to work a monthly two hour and forty-five minute volunteer shift.
Since its founding, it has grown from a small ad-hoc organization into a substantial neighborhood institution with over 17,000 members. Because it needs only to cover costs rather than turn a profit, the PSFC’s prices are substantially lower than a typical Brooklyn grocery store. It offers sustainably and ethically produced food and grocery items. The Park Slope Coop (PSFC) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1973. Writing assignment for Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry with Colleen Larson
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