Ah, our beloved Food Coop. It's one of the holiest of shrines in Port Townsend. I've been a member for many years. So, with great reluctance, I'm about to complain. On the scale of world problems, not a major complaint of course. Call it nostalgia for the good 'ole days.
Frankly, however, I'm disenchanted. One of the hallmarks of the independent food coops has been the availability of fresh juice. Nope, not any more, at least, not in the Coop's case. They began curtailing hours, finding various excuses to pull the juicer offline, and finally with no further engagement of the membership pulled the plug altogether. The suggestion was made to simplify the juice offerings, even to pre-package them early in the day to avoid busy hours as other markets do. The Coop hasn't responded.
They've also been aggressively "red-dotting" products which aren't hot sellers and pulling them from the shelves. Those left bereft must then run the gauntlet of a "special order". And that is an exercise in total frustration from the arcane "user unfriendly" online lookup/ ordering to the "in a hurry, gotta be somewhere else" look of those special order employees when a customer with a lost look appears. By the way, their antiquated online ordering means in-store only. Try squinting at a computer screen from a noisy perch in the aisle.
Nearby, their vitamin section requires a contortionist to first find items but also frequently to retrieve them from a kneeling/ sitting yogic stance. The Coop offers various, timeworn excuses - not enough space for example - but relatively simple fixes leap to mind. Slightly elevated shelves for instance. Again no action.
Still, the employees are friendly and helpful. It's a pleasant shopping environment generally. But so is the QFC supermarket down the street, Sadly, the Coop appears to be slipping and its privileged position as the only "Whole Foods" style grocer in P.T. is starting to show. Its drift is toward more of a "supermarket" feel, with its relentless march toward expansion and profit at the expense of customer service.
