June Feedback Responses 2025

Comment:

Is there a reason the co-op chooses to offer services to the unhoused community directly from the store itself in the form of its food-bin? And presumably other services?
The co-op seems to in the last several years to uniquely attract many of the unhoused.

I have to say as a patron this is often disconcerting when seemingly unstable people are often loitering in and around the storefront.

With my young children we’ve seen:
A man violently thrashing a sleeping bag in front of the entrance.
Angry-seeming yelling men come through the store without shirts on.
Arguments and confrontations between individuals in the parking lot.
People sleeping in the outside dining area by the piano on several occasions.
Generally very desperate seeming people in front of the store with shopping carts full of refuse.
And of course a constant stream of people soliciting donations that rotate in the parking lot.

It makes me very uncomfortable to bring my young family into this kind of environment.

And again – it’s unique to the co-op. I don’t have this experience when I go to the Nugget. Or Trader Joes. Or even Safeway.

It seems to be a particular byproduct of the co-op establishing itself as a hub of handouts that come directly from the store.

Why subject your customers and co-owners to this experience? Why not donate to the unhoused community by offering supplies and food to the daytime shelter on L street for example?

I would really like an explanation as to the seeming lack of consideration for the safety, and general experience of the people who actually keep the store opened as patrons.

This is not to be taken as classist, or insensitive to the plights of others, but merely about the appropriateness of essentially forcing your customers to confront some of the harshest elements of urban life when they just want to buy some organic apples.

Email Response:

Thank you for using our suggestion box to inquire about the current environment of our store. You are correct that as of late we do have an uptick in people loitering in and around the store. As a community owned grocery store, our values are to have care and concern for our community. Additionally, our goal is to make this a place where our community feels comfortable enough to gather. Since 2020 we have partnered with our local Freedge organization to house a refrigerator for anyone in need to have accessibility to food. People from the community contribute time and food to upkeep the Freedge. This resource is not just used by the unhoused but I have also observed others from our community using it. That is the extent of the resource we offer onsite with regards to the unhoused.
With all that being said, we have recognized that our environment has changed in a way that has become concerning. As a management team, we recently discussed implementing a procedure on how to address someone who is loitering in a manner that aligns with our values (an approach with respect and empathy). For example, when we do see someone sleeping in the morning. We greet them, we let them know we are opening for business and getting the store cleaned up and give them time to gather their things if necessary. We ask if they’d like to know about other resources in the community for housing so they can have a place to go. All people that I have approached have been understanding and respectful of our request. We have committed as a management team to monitor the exterior environment more often to ensure that our store maintains its welcoming environment. If you are in the store and experience a concern we have equipped our management team with a process on how to approach such a situation.

Thank you again for reaching out and sharing your experience. We value your input, patronage and your concern for our community-owned grocery store.

-Laura S, General Manager

Comment:

Please bring back the bulletin board! 

Email Response:

Hi there,

We received your suggestion box submission. We have a community bulletin board that we host by our bathrooms.

If you’re referring to the old bulletin board that was to the left of our building, that one was removed. It was placed there when our original entrance to the store was right next to it. Since it was out of sight for us, we were unable to check it regularly to ensure the contents of the board were appropriate.

If you would like to visit our community bulletin board is now by our bathrooms inside the store.

Please let me know if you have any other questions, thank you,

-Liliana, Marketing Manager

There was a problem with staff or service:

Hello! My partner and I have been coming to the co-op for about a year and have been members for a few months. We have really enjoyed that we can take our dog there, as we frequently take her with us when we go out, and the co-op has always appeared to be pet friendly. We’ve seen many dogs in the store before and have had employees compliment and interact with our dog on multiple occasions. However, while shopping with our dog in my arms today, I was approached by a man who frequently works at the counter left of the registers and told that pets are not allowed in the co-op and I had to leave. The co-op being a pet friendly place has been important to my experience as a customer and owner, and I do not want to see that change. If the co-op is not pet friendly, that at least needs to be made more clear, as there had been no past indication of that.

Email Response:

Our Food Co-op is very much pet friendly. We do enjoy shoppers bringing their pets to visit with us. You’ve probably noticed our water bowls around the patio in case your pet needs some rehydration. However, inside the store pets are not allowed. The Health Department has shared with us that it is a California Health and Safety Food Code violation to have pets in a grocery store. Only Service animals (different from emotional support animals) are allowed to be accompanied by their owner. We are required to ask shoppers if their pet is a service animal and if they are not, we unfortunately must ask that the pet stay outside of the store. The Health Department also gave us guidance to ask what type of service they are trained to perform? This is because there is a specific definition of what a service animal is according to ADA. I hope that this information gives you a better understanding of why we unfortunately can not have pets in our store and an understanding that must abide by all Health Department Food Safety Codes.

-Laura Sanchez, General Manager

Comment:

The iPad ordering system is inefficient and frustrating. It doesn’t seem to have all the sandwiches that are offered on the menu, for example, a cold tuna sandwich. Moreover, it took too long to go through the choices, and I was frustrated when I was entering my contact info because I kept hitting the wrong numbers. I just gave up. I think it’s a terrible idea. It would’ve taken far less time for me to write it out on the paper order form. I regularly purchase sandwiches, but you’ve lost a customer in this department.

Email Response:

Thank you for sharing your feedback about our new deli kiosk. We understand that changes like this can take some getting used to, and we truly appreciate your patience as we work to improve your experience. The kiosk helps us in several ways that ultimately benefit our customers. It allows us to ensure greater accuracy with orders, especially when adding custom extras. It also helps us get orders out faster because our team can focus on preparing food without pausing to take new orders. Additionally, the kiosk gives us the flexibility to offer more options and easily update our menu when items are out of stock-saving you time and avoiding confusion. We value your input and are alway looking for ways to enhance your experience at the co-op . If you have suggestions or need assistance using the kiosk, our staff is always happy to help. Let me know if you need help with any other additional responses.

-Alishia, Prepared Foods Manager