Natural Food Retailers Association

by Corinne Shindelar, CEO

One of the primary principles of your association is operational support through peer networking. INFRA continues to increase this benefit of membership by providing meaningful coordination and facilitation of member events

The board of INFRA approved resources being allocated in 2009 to support four in- person member meetings. Thus far, we have hosted an exciting annual membership meeting with dinner and an April share group in Santa Cruz, CA. This share group was primarily comprised of our high volume/multiple locations members. By focusing on details such as these when selecting the share group, more time was allowed for sharing resources and information that are directly related to the individual members, such as running multiple locations or larger operations in this case. The meeting in Santa Cruz was hosted by New Leaf Community Markets and facilitated by INFRA. There were a total of nine stores represented and twelve people in attendance. We spent two and a half days together, getting to know each other, working on the structure of the share group, discussing a variety of topics, and touring multiple stores, including New Leaf locations. The group provided feedback to New Leaf management using INFRA’s informal peer review form on everything from store cleanliness to customer service and merchandising. Topics of discussion and sharing mainly focused on employee compensation packages, changes in sales patterns by department and opportunities for collaboration. A very small portion of time was spent on INFRA program updates.

Discussion on collaboration resulted in the idea of sharing the feasibility and development of an entry-level employee- training program. This group of members will consider financing to move the project forward and make it available to other members upon completion for a reasonable cost. For the overall structure of the share group, it was decided that these members would like to meet 2 to 3 times a year. A topic of focus for the next gathering will be determined at the close of the current session. Individual members will be asked to bring specific materials and presentations illustrating their current practices for the chosen topic. The next gathering of this group will take place in October and will be hosted by LifeSource Natural Foods in Salem OR. The topic will focus on employee compensation practices and employee policies. This, along with a presentation by INFRA on the Co-o Metric program and a peer review of LifeSource, will round out the agenda for our time together. The east regional meeting will take place at the end of this month. Hosted by Natures Temptations in Ridgefield, CT. At this time we have a total of ten members registered, with room for a few more. We will focus on a peer review, follow-up on the idea of a shared supplement/ vitamin label program, as well as discuss the current sales performance and impact of the economy being experienced by members.

The gathering in June will be the third such event for INFRA in 2009. It has been expressed frequently that the time spent in person with other members is the most valuable aspect of membership in the association. Sharing best practices, ideas and practical information often only come to independents through the use of a high cost consultant. What better use of your association then for it to be the conduit for independents in helping remove the barrier of isolation and knowing that you are not alone.