GM Update: Downtown Store Hours
Like many businesses in our community, we are facing some ongoing challenges that require us to think creatively to best meet the needs of our staff and customers. In addition to rising safety concerns in the Downtown area, we have a number of open positions throughout key departments and are certainly not alone in the community in this regard. As restaurants, stores and bars have re-opened across our state, many businesses are struggling to hire and retain staff. We know that long-term open positions place an ongoing strain on our current staff, and we have been actively seeking ways to ease some of the burden, particularly in the evening hours when safety concerns are heightened and staffing levels remain challenging.
That’s why, beginning on Sunday, September 19, we will be reducing our Downtown store hours and closing at 9 PM every night. Our new Downtown operating hours will be 7 AM to 9 PM every day – matching the hours at our South End store.
We are hopeful that this change is a temporary solution to current challenges, but as we’ve seen in the past many months, it is difficult to anticipate what comes next. Therefore, this change will remain in place until we see an optimistic and sustained shift. Ultimately, we understand that this reduction in hours may pose challenges for some in our community and we remain committed to our role as a community resource. However, at this time, we felt this decision was in the best interest of the safety of our staff and the well-being of the organization as a whole.
Thank you as always to our incredible staff for the patience, kindness and care they show every day for our customers, Members, and one another. And thank you to our broader Co-op community for navigating the many changes and challenges of the past year+ alongside us. We appreciate your feedback and welcome you to reach out with any additional questions.