Myth: The co-op is broke, struggling, or floundering.
Truth: We certainly aren’t broke, ‘sick’, or struggling!
We’re very much alive and kicking and into the final phase of the project: financing the renovation and upfit of the building and getting the market opened. In fact, we’ve received over $240,000 in community investment notes so far with $7,000 in new investment notes this week alone.
Myth: We must have 2,000 owners before we can do anything.
Truth: Nope; not true again. 2000 owners is a goal, but not a requirement.
Statistics suggest 2,000 owners (converted to shoppers) would be ideal by the time the market opens its doors. Which is why we set this as one of our goals but not a requiement. We are well on our way with over 1400 owners already, and are proceeding with the financing and the construction phase. Keep in mind that co-ops get additional owners for the life of the co-op and we will always be seeking new owners. Weaver Street Market in Orange County has over 17,000 owners.
Myth: The co-op is a non-profit.
Truth: Company Shops Market, Inc. is definitely a for-profit corporation.
Company Shops Market, Inc. will be a nice company to work for and to do business with, and will be a wonderful community citizen, but we are definitely a for-profit corporation. Specifically, we are a North Carolina cooperative corporation.
Sharon Dent
(This message was reposed due to some blog technicalities)
Nice FAQ Sharon.
The truth here is that we are making good steady progress in a terrible economy and as a board we must be very prudent and conservative while holding to our mission. I wish we could find a white knight that would invest the needed funds and we could open the store tomorrow, but building a coop is a one brick (investor) project at a time. It look like the fund raising is going well and we will keep at it until we reach our goals.