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A Healthy Deli, Part 2: Evaluating the food service department

By |2024-01-24T18:08:40-05:00December 17th, 2023|

Tomlin’s on-site evaluation of the deli department and the existing conditions helps to set a baseline for what is working and what systems need to be adjusted or created. Her experience both in kitchens and as a general manager (GM) herself gives her the ability to translate what she sees to what the GM needs to learn to see. “It can be small things that tell you big things. Is silverware stocked? If not, that means the deli (staff) hasn’t come out to refresh the salad bar in a while,” Tomlin explains.

Retail Grocery Trends Facing Leaders Right Now

By |2023-12-19T12:27:11-05:00December 2nd, 2023|

Heading into 2024, grocery retailers need to understand the trends they face in today's marketplace. Being a leader in an independent grocery store has always been difficult. Our business model itself is brutal, and the competitive landscape is fierce. Adding to the difficult business climate, the pandemic brought with it additional crises—many of which we are still navigating as business leaders—that intensified the pressure on independent grocers’ performance.

A Long Road of Cooperation: Revisiting Vernon Oakes

By |2023-12-05T15:47:20-05:00October 4th, 2023|

I enjoyed interviewing Vernon Oakes and asked him a few questions about his remarkable career. Vernon, tell us a few things to help Columinate readers know you better: people and places that are most important to you. My parents, Odell Oakes Sr. and Florrie Smith Oakes, met while serving in the US Army during World War II and married in New York City, where I was born. We later moved to Bluefield, West Virginia. I attended public schools, and due to a speech impediment, I was put in a “special ed” class in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Words and reading didn't come naturally to me, and reading still isn’t my favorite thing. But math made sense and would later help me to make sense of life and the business pursuits I had. School was tough due to the added factor of racism and integration in 1955, when I was entering the 3rd grade.

Marketing in the Co-op Matrix

By |2023-08-29T15:59:08-04:00August 29th, 2023|

The board and general manager need to become literate around the quantitative as well as the qualitative aspects of the marketing field. Marketing is often at the top of the list of operational tasks that become part of the discussion at meetings of the board of directors. Topics can range from the quality of the marketing to the board feeling it’s not plugged in enough when engaging with owners through marketing channels. Marketing issues are often of concern—whether warranted or not—to boards and individual directors.

Award to Rebecca Torpie: Top Women in Grocery

By |2023-07-10T17:07:17-04:00July 10th, 2023|

The Progressive Grocer Top Women in Grocery (TWIG) is a prestigious award giving industry recognition to grocery retail leadership, and this year's list includes one of Columinate's own, Rebecca Torpie. TWIG awards are granted annually to a generous number of women in a huge and diverse industry, from team leaders and store managers to senior executives. The 2022 awards were announced in June 2023.

Welcome! Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert, Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC

By |2023-06-27T14:59:57-04:00June 27th, 2023|

Sometimes the road to Columinate is a direct line, and sometimes it’s a leisurely path with many twists and turns. For Lisa Malmarowski and Pam Mehnert of Flying Squirrel Milwaukee LLC, joining Columinate has been a logical extension of the work each of them has been doing at Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee. They have been sharing their skills with fellow cooperators for years, putting into practice the cooperative principles of education and cooperation among cooperatives.

Jeanie Wells’ Mighty Community Markets Wins Innovation and Achievement Award

By |2023-06-19T17:47:05-04:00June 19th, 2023|

Independent grocers and co-ops face formidable challenges to survival, from WalMart to dollar stores, while often lacking the resources they need. Columinate's Jeanie Wells is providing these retail operations with essential skills and tools. At the June 2023 CCMA conference, Wells' Mighty Community Markets (MCM) training program was held up to its national audience as an outstanding example of cooperative innovation and achievement. (Go [...]

Introducing Tamah Yisrael: A Community Connector

By |2023-05-17T18:25:56-04:00May 17th, 2023|

Tamah Yisrael, an energizing and experienced new member of the Columinate team, connects and organizes the community. Thanks to her work as a co-op board member, start-up co-op leader, comptroller, chief financial officer, loan officer, musician, and education/outreach coordinator, Yisrael is invested in figuring out new solutions to old problems from within her community. “The ultimate work is power shifting. What is the path towards shifting power—does it look like cooperatives, does it look like strategies that include cooperative values and principles? I’m happy to offer part of the solution,” says Yisrael.

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