Bulk Room Blues
By Kenna Eaton, Food Co-op General Manager
During the expansion we moved the bulk bins into what had been our dining room. We had several key reasons for doing so, but a big one was to contain the mess that bulk is or can be. You probably know that from your own experience: Have you ever overfilled a bag? Or discovered a hole in the bag? Or even just missed that bag opening? I know I have, and I think it happens to all of us sometimes. The move felt like a great idea at the time and even looked good on paper, but from the start we noticed challenges with the flow in the space. For instance, the corner with the bulk spices can easily get crowded even with only two or three shoppers. The bulk cooler was too close to the coffee grinder, and so on. We made some immediate changes that helped, but then Covid hit and all of a sudden, we had to make drastic changes, such as how many shoppers could be in there at one time (four) and what direction you shopped. We asked shoppers to park their carts outside the room and required hand washing. We even posted a staff person at the entrance to make sure directions were followed to keep everyone safe.
Fast forward three years and Covid is no longer forcing us to take all those precautions. Gone is the staff person at the doorway, gone are the directional arrows, gone is the required hand washing (although that is still a good idea). But the crowding continues, so we still request that carts stay outside the room. We’ve updated our signage and tried to do a better job of showing you where to park. If you have mobility issues and need the cart for support, or you have a small child onboard, then go ahead and feel free to bring your cart inside, but we’re asking everyone else to help by continuing to park your cart and hand basket by the salad bar.
Later this year we will be doing some repair work in the bulk room. We’ll remove the windows behind the tea and coffee because they are failing, and water is leaking in. After the walls are repaired, we plan to re-design the layout and we will likely invest in some new equipment. But given the small size of the room (we don’t have plans to enlarge it due to other constraints), we’ll continue to ask you to park your carts outside by the salad bar.
In the meantime, if you forget or don’t see the signs asking you to park your cart, please don’t be surprised if staff or even a member asks you to move your cart outside the room to ease the crowding. Our ultimate goal is to improve the shopping experience in bulk, making it easier for you to ditch the plastic bag or container and lessen our carbon footprint.
