Settin’ Up Shop in Chimacum, WA - Corner Store Beginnings
The tale of our little Corner Store is organic and complex without a tidy ending in sight. How to flesh out such a story without writing a novel? It's unusual, but let's try it as an outline for a screenplay. Bear with us!
CAST:
Founding Owners – Malcom Dorn (contractor and ex-farmer), Phil Vogelzang (physician), and Katy McCoy (artist and ex-physician)
Staff
Local Farmers and Food Artisans
Locavore Eaters
Community Organizations and Fellow Businesses
SETTING:
Chimacum, WA – A small farming town on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula, where the rich agricultural valleys of Beaver and Valley converge 12 miles outside Port Townsend. Population 1,568.
Vacant 2000 sq. ft. Auto-Parts Store – Strategically placed on Chimacum’s only 4-way stop.
April 2010 – Economy just beginning its slow creep out of a severe recession.
SCENE ONE – First Step onto a Slippery Slope
A "For Lease" sign appears in the window of a long-vacant auto-parts store. Small-town talk ensues, Malcolm meets Phil and Katy, ideas percolate, and on April Fools’ Day, 2010, these three intrepid optimists (M,P, & K) sign a 5-year lease.
Inspired by values around community, health, the environment, and local food sustainability, they want to open some version of a "Keepin' it Local" marketplace. They know that for Jefferson County to grow its agricultural economy, all of the interdependent puzzle pieces must be in place: growers, consumers, and sellers.
There are already plenty of small farms and locavore eaters. The Jefferson Land Trust is busy conserving farmland. The only thing lacking is a convenient marketplace where farmers and customers can exchange goods. The fledgling Farmers Market at the Chimacum Grange needs a new home, and the nearest grocery selling local fare and natural groceries is The Food Coop 12 miles away.
The business plan is sketchy, but surely, something should work out. Have we mentioned that neither M,P, or K have any retail experience, and all three have full-time commitments to other careers?
SCENE TWO – A Farmers Market. Are we done yet?
Jefferson County Farmers Market Association to the rescue. JCFM agrees to take on management of the Chimacum Farmers Market, move it to "the corner," and even pay M, P, & K rent.
Presto, a "Keepin' it Local" marketplace! The market opens to much fanfare on Sunday, May 2nd.
M,P, & K exit stage left to their day jobs. Thank you, JCFM!
SCENE THREE – Nope. The universe wants groceries too!
Wait, get back on stage! Some of the farmers have an idea. In addition to the Sunday market, they want access to the auto-parts store the other six days of the week to set up a shared community farm stand. They volunteer to set up straw bales and take turns staffing it.
Only one problem – It's May, and the farmers have forgotten their need to farm. Can M, P, & K please take on the running of the farm stand?
Well, okay. A part-time manager and part-time facilities person are hired and everyone gets to work making important building improvements, such as painting big chickens on the side of the building. A simple cash register, used coolers, and shelves are purchased.
Oh, dear, this is starting to cost money. Another idea –Maybe M, P & K should sell organic groceries on the side! Okay, how about we open on November 22nd? A potluck dinner is thrown for the local vendors under the new "Eat Your FOOD FROM HERE" mural. The mood is downright giddy, and all proclaim the future is bright.
SCENE FOUR – Rubber Hits the Road
Oh, no, this grocery business may be trickier than imagined, starting with buying inventory. Distributors aren't thrilled to deal with a tiny shop out in the boonies a ferry ride away. Organic Valley dairy products are cheaper retail up the road at QFC than the store can buy wholesale. It's the week before Thanksgiving but forget turkeys. Those needed ordering months ago.
The store plunks down $10,000 on inventory. So disappointing to see it barely fill two shelving units. Without knowledgeable buyers on staff, the mix is embarrassingly shallow, weighted way too heavily towards one generic (but organic!) brown mustard.
And there's still so much to do and learn. Buy and install a POS system. Build vendor relationships. Hire and train great staff. Design a website. Set up the books. Basically, start at the beginning and figure everything out..
Like we said, "Oh, no…" Franchises exist for a reason!
SCENE FIVE – Community to the Rescue
(Stage covered with snow with more falling from the ceiling. Inspirational music plays.)
Opening Day! World's best community pulls on its galoshes and braves freak snowstorm to stock up on mustard. John of SpringRain farm is the first customer and buys a large container of milk. Heidi and Donna actually fill a double-decker shopping cart.
And so it continues year after year. The challenges are many, but the community supports the store every step of the way with encouragement and their shopping dollars. With those same dollars, the farmers grow an ever-increasing bounty and diversity of great food.
Little by little, the Corner attracts a great staff, and learns the hard way what works. Sales grow rapidly, and after five long years, the store begins to make a profit which they reinvest in better staff pay and benefits, store expansions, new equipment, and the community at large.
They begin baking and making deli items in their Corner Kitchen and open a Corner Nursery. In 2015, P and K buy out M and become sole owners.
The work is beyond rewarding and always interesting.
(Consider finishing play here with a simple happy ending.)
INTERMISSION
Grab your self some Rosemary Shortbread!
SCENE SIX – Put to the Test
2020. Need we say more? All is good until it isn't. COVID brings severe supply chain disruptions and meat plant closures. Groceries across the country have aisles stripped bare, especially when it comes to meat and flour. Our area has invested heavily in local farms and producers. Is it working and helping build local food resilience? The answer is a resounding "YES!" Local pork, beef, chicken, and locally grown/milled flours from Finnriver Grain Co crowd the Corner shelves.
It turns out running a grocery is serious business. The community relies heavily on its Corner Store for food and connection, and grocers are declared front-line workers. The work is exhausting, and, in response, the store invests heavily in higher staff wages and begins offering health insurance.
2020 is equally important because of the social justice awakening triggered by George Floyd's murder. The store learns much, reflects, and commits more strongly than ever to food equity values. The store's community donations are generous and align with this commitment.
SCENE SEVEN – New Challenge and Rabbit in a Hat
No rest for the weary. Next up, inflation and threats of a recession. As of October 2022, food prices are up 13.5% from a year ago. Understandably, shoppers are tightening their pocketbooks.
Fear not – The Corner pulls a rabbit out of its hat! In early 2022, they join the organization INFRA (Independent Natural Foods Retailers Association), a coop of sorts for non-coops. In becoming a member, they join forces with 300+ other independent grocers with a collective buying power of over $2 billion annually. In October, the store can finally buy grocery items from a new distributor, KeHE, for "big store" prices. The savings, which couldn't have come at a better time, are significant and will be passed onto the customer and to local vendors.
Oh, how we like rabbits! And hats!
THE END
Screenplay ends here. What’s in store next is anyone’s guess. A store expansion? A cut-and-wrap meat shop? A distribution center to to help farmers with cold storage and processing? A sit-down “Corner Kitchen”?
When it comes to building food resilience and food equity for Jefferson County, much work remains. The Corner, forever indebted to its community, commits itself to the journey.
