Interview with General Manager Jeannine DeWald
by Glenda Bissex
Jeannine is no stranger to the Plainfield Co-op, having worked at the village store for years on staff and as a member of the management collective. She recalls walking through the old building with Sam Clark long ago as they were planning to renovate the interior space. Now, as General Manager, Jeannine oversees the whole expanded Co-op organization. Michael Hoffman, a familiar friendly face, is the Hardware and Operations Manager. Theis Bergstrom is Administration and Data Systems Co-ordinator. A Grocery Manager is still to be hired.
I talked with Jeannine in the hardware store section, in the large loft that is office space and staff space—bright and open compared to the dark and small—or cozy—village store’s back rooms. The stairway is easy to climb. Leaning against the walls are whiteboards with diagrams and lists—evidence of all the planning that is ongoing.
Jeannine works a 6-day week, including evenings, dealing with several complicated projects all needing to be done at once. There are the obvious projects, like rearranging the grocery section of the Route 2 store to make space for the products coming up from the village store; then organizing the trucking of those products as well as equipment to hold them. I looked down from the loft at the pet section that has been moved twice, the second time to make space for legally required new sinks dedicated to washing produce. Then there are the less obvious projects, like combining the data about purchases (POS) from a conventional business with data from a cooperatively run business. Just look at all the information on your sales receipt!
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“Things are changing rapidly at the Co-op,“ said Jeannine. “Unfortunately the nature of this merger involves several moving pieces that are interdependent. When one piece is ready to move, the rest have to go with it, so it makes advanced planning and communication very challenging. We received confirmation from our POS company that they will be flying in from Minnesota on Monday, February 10th to remove the POS system from the village store to install it at Route 2. This means the last day for village store operations is February 6th, as the store cannot operate without the POS.” The POS system includes the member database so now Co-op members can have their purchases recorded and use their gift cards. We can also welcome new Co-op members.
Jeannine envisions a store serving the WHOLE community with selected conventional as well as organic foods and fresh produce, making a more complete grocery. And in the spring, a store for gardeners, with a large selection of plants plus soil amendments and gardening tools, bringing more of us together
Buying grocery items in larger quantities should bring prices down—but not instantly. For example, National Co-operative Grocers, our largest supplier, needs proof of positive financials over an extended period before giving us a larger discount.
Both Plainfield Hardware and the Plainfield Co-op have been passionate about buying local, supporting our local economy. Our commitment is stronger together. Produce from local farmers, baked goods and other products from local producers join Christmas trees grown on a farm in East Montpelier and spring plants for sale in the greenhouse along with soil amendments, all locally sourced.
The word “transition” has been used frequently to describe what’s happening, but Jeannine suggested another word—“evolving.” “Transition” implies moving from one known thing to a different known thing, like caterpillar to butterfly, while in our case the butterfly is not an entirely known species. It is evolving, will be evolving for some time. This is exciting but the uncertainties can also feel uncomfortable. Perhaps none of us grasped how many months the process of merging would take. It includes many opportunities for unknowns to pop up. And it also opens opportunities for anyone in the community to contribute creative ideas to our evolution.