City Market, Onion River Co-op Membership Surpasses 5,000
City Market, Onion River Co-op, downtown Burlington’s cooperative grocery store, has reached a major milestone in its history by surpassing over 5,000 Co-op members.
Of those 5,000 members, over 1,000 are participants in the popular Food for All Member Program, which offers a 10% discount to qualifying members. The Food for All Member Program has over provided $129,412 in store discounts to participants.
“It is really rewarding to see a rise in membership which is an indication that the community is supporting the Co-op and the good work that we are performing on behalf of our members,” said General Manager Clem Nilan. “In addition to the Food for All Member Program, we can offer our members outstanding benefits one of which includes Patronage Refunds. This past fall, we were able to distribute over $268,000 back to over 3,500 active members.”
The Co-op acts as a non-profit to its members by returning a portion of profits from member sales. Patronage Refund checks for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 were mailed to members on November 10.
Membership at the Co-op is $15 annually and provides a variety of benefits including free water from the Reverse Osmosis water machine, discounts at area businesses, the opportunity to volunteer in and out of the Co-op for store discounts, in addition to the Patronage Refund. Co-op members show their member card and/or provide the name on the member account at the cash registers with every purchase. Individual patronage checks are a refund on profit relative to member purchases when member equity is current. Patronage checks ranged from $1.03 to $946.45. The average check was $77.
Onion River Co-op members receive the following benefits with their $15 annual membership:
Of those 5,000 members, over 1,000 are participants in the popular Food for All Member Program, which offers a 10% discount to qualifying members. The Food for All Member Program has over provided $129,412 in store discounts to participants.
“It is really rewarding to see a rise in membership which is an indication that the community is supporting the Co-op and the good work that we are performing on behalf of our members,” said General Manager Clem Nilan. “In addition to the Food for All Member Program, we can offer our members outstanding benefits one of which includes Patronage Refunds. This past fall, we were able to distribute over $268,000 back to over 3,500 active members.”
The Co-op acts as a non-profit to its members by returning a portion of profits from member sales. Patronage Refund checks for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009 were mailed to members on November 10.
Membership at the Co-op is $15 annually and provides a variety of benefits including free water from the Reverse Osmosis water machine, discounts at area businesses, the opportunity to volunteer in and out of the Co-op for store discounts, in addition to the Patronage Refund. Co-op members show their member card and/or provide the name on the member account at the cash registers with every purchase. Individual patronage checks are a refund on profit relative to member purchases when member equity is current. Patronage checks ranged from $1.03 to $946.45. The average check was $77.
Onion River Co-op members receive the following benefits with their $15 annual membership:
- Patronage refund (cash refund based on annual purchases)
- Store discounts through member worker program (7% & 12% discounts)
- Discounts at area businesses through the Community Connections program
- Free water from the Reverse Osmosis water machine Opportunity to participate in governance through board meetings, elections, proposals, referenda, and eligibility for Board of Directors positions
- Reduced advertising rates in the monthly Onion Skin newsletter
- Opportunity to display artwork in Member Café Gallery
- Check writing with up to $20 over purchases