By Brendon Smith
Willy Street Co-op

We’re settling in at Willy North after almost six months, and we’ve seen many wonderful new changes in that time. Here are a few of them:

• Hundreds of new products are on our shelves, thanks to requests that we’ve gotten from customers, and we expect to bring in hundreds more. If you have a request, please let us know. You can fill out a customer comment in the store, or submit one through our website at willystreet.coop/contact.
• The Co-op has added hundreds of new Owners since opening Willy North. We now have over 34,400 Owners and we’re adding more every day. Everyone is welcome in our stores and anyone can become a Co-op Owner for as little as $10. If you qualify for a financial assistance program, you may be able to become an Owner for as little as $4. The average Owner saves much more than that each year, so it’s cost-effective to become an Owner, plus you can take more control over where your food comes from. For more information, see willystreet.coop/ownership or stop at the Customer Service desk in the store.
• Nonperishable food donations from customers (left on the shelf to the left of the door when you exit) are sent to The River Food Pantry and the Bread of Life food pantry. Each of them also received $1,541.66, thanks to customer donations to our Pantries of Plenty program.
• We now accept WIC (at Willy North only, at least for now) and launched the Double Dollars program. Every Tuesday until grant funds run out or March 14 (whichever comes first), any shopper using their FoodShare/QUEST card to purchase groceries can receive up to $20 worth of Double Dollars coupons. For every $5 spent using FoodShare/QUEST, the cashier gives one $5 Double Dollars coupon, up to $20. The Double Dollars can be used any day through May 31 for any item in our produce department at any of our stores.
• We’ve added more in-store sampling so you can try before you buy.

Here are a couple more Willy North improvements that we expect in the next few months:

• Outdoor seating will be added in the spring. This will be a nice place to enjoy a meal or a cup of coffee (at least when the weather is nice).
• More bike parking will be added.

Do you have a question or suggestion? We’d love to hear it. Ask at our Customer Service desk, visit our website at willystreet.coop/contact, or call us at 608-709-5445