It has been one year since Co-op Bookstore managers and the Oberlin Consumers' Cooperative (OCC) Board declared that the Co-op was having serious financial difficulties, and at OCC's first Board meeting of the year, it seemed that little has changed in that time period.
The OCC Board met with Co-op members on Tuesday for the first time since April to discuss the bookstore's shaky financial situation, assess goals for this year and elect new Board members.
At the end of last fiscal year, statistics indicated the Co-op had lost a total of $113,569. The Co-op then had to ask for and receive a $40,000, 90-day loan from the College in order to stay financially afloat.
"Coming out of one of our Board meetings last year, we realized we were definitely going to have a cash problem as far as textbooks, so we directly approached the College about a loan... We've already set the money aside to repay the College at the end of October," Co-op General Manager Alison Meyers said.
Meyers attributed the Co-op's overall monetary loss to multiple factors, including the costs of building the Co-op's new location in 1992, high inventories of items that failed to sell, "disappointing sales" in categories such as gifts, supplies, recorded music and emblematic merchandise, poor long- and short-term planning and a lack of communication with the College.
"We know that we do not have a successful formula for running a business as it is right now, and that's the beginning, that's the baseline," Meyers said. "We're forging a path through what's essentially uncharted territory. . . we also are in a very volatile economic period, especially for an independent retailer such as the Co-op."
One effort to generate revenue is the new Two Trees Cafe, the Co-op's second-story eatery and grocery store, which replaced Irene's Cafe this summer. Two Trees, however, has already taken a large financial hit, losing $31,546 since its June opening.
"We did not get the project going in the time frame I'd anticipated, so some of the loss is directly attributable to that. I am very enthusiastic about the cafe, although we have had a slightly disappointing opening," Meyers said.
The Board's projections for the cafe's summer sales far exceeded Two Trees' actual revenue, although Meyers partly attributes the lack of profit thus far to the College's "validine snafu."
"I know that several business managers around town have been saying their business is down 20 or 30 percent because of the temporary validines that let students eat unlimited meals on-campus. Students were less eager to go out and spend money when they had that option," said Meyers.
Meyers, the OCC Board and Co-op members have taken several proactive measures to insure that the Co-op begins making money, including seeking outside help in the form of financial and retail strategists who assessed the Co-op and recommended some changes.
"The retail strategists who worked with us told me it takes about 18 months for a business to develop," Meyers said. "One of the things I'd like to do this year is to make sure that our planning looks at reasonable amounts of time."
Some Co-op members felt that planning 18 months ahead was unreasonable. "You have to do these things by the end of the calendar year for them to be viable," member Harvey Gittler said. "You can plan, you can analyze things to death. The question is, what are you going to do within the next few weeks? You have to do them, not just tell the bank you're planning to do them."
"I think we need a sense of urgency. . . I think we really need a sense of commitment on a timeline of some kind," member Liz Burgess, OC '73, said.
In other efforts to stabilize the Co-op's financial situation Meyers and some Board members are attending several financial and management seminars, as well as joining the Council of Smaller Enterprises (COSE), but some Co-op members believe downsizing may be an option in the future.
"Downsizing sounds horrible, but the question is, do you want the institution to survive or do you want every individual to survive?" Gittler said.
Still, other solutions will be incorporated before downsizing is considered, and Meyers is optimistic about the Co-op's future and the changes she wants to see made.
"We need to streamline and unclutter the Co-op so new customers can navigate the store and return to shop and spend money," Meyers said.
In an effort to seek input on changes consumers would like to see within the Co-op, the Board has placed notebooks in every department in the Co-op for customers to write suggestions.
"The notebooks are there so you can scribble notes and be responded to. . . that's the input we want and welcome," Meyers said.
Student input is especially welcomed by the Board. Newly-elected Board member Sylvia Berry, a fifth-year Conservatory graduate student, said, "In the five years I've been here, I've noticed this weird alienation between the College and the Co-op. I'm not really sure where it comes from."
Staff member Matthew Weiner, an OC '97 TIMARA major, agreed. "I think it's important to work on bridging the gaps between students and townspeople. For example, I work in the sheet music department, and we have a terrible rapport with the Conservatory. With just a few baby steps I've seen tremendous progress-I think there are a lot of changes we haven't tried."
Meyers said communication between the Co-op and the College is crucial. "We need to work as closely as we can with the College to improve our business relationship. . . there have been individuals in the College who have been remarkably responsive to our efforts," she said.
In an attempt to insure that financial and management goals are met during the next year, the Board held elections to recruit new members.
Included among the newly-elected were current President Allison Gould, College Financial Planning and Budget Director Robert Knight, former Plum Creek Antiques owner Debbi Walsh, current Board and staff member Karen Long, independent-retail owner Jim Machnauer and Co-op staff member Maura Scully-Murry, as well as students Berry and sophomore Mandy Tuong.
The Board will reconvene on October 18.