One of the many benefits of being a member of the Co-op is getting a 10% discount on bulk special orders, but recently I’ve noticed that our special order system is not working as efficiently as possible. I called around to other Co-ops in the area to find out how their systems work and based on that information I’ve made some changes to our system.

The way the system works now, you fill out a special order form at the register or you call your order in (this part won’t change). We then order the product with our next order and call you when it comes in.

With the new system, if you place an order by 10 a.m. Tuesday, we will place it with our main distributor so it comes in only on Wednesdays and we will not call you. You can expect to pick up your special order on Wednesday afternoon. But if your order is not available from our main distributor, we will call you and give you an approximate date of arrival and then we will call you again when your product arrives. In other words, if you place an order by 10 a.m. Tuesday and you don’t hear from us, you can pick up your order on Wednesday (yes, the very next day) after 4 p.m. If you haven’t picked up your order after two weeks, we will call and remind you and if it’s still here after a month we will put it on the shelf for sale.

I believe this new system will eliminate a lot of confusion about when special orders come in and it will definitely eliminate the amount of phone calls the staff has to make. Hopefully it will make both the customer and the Co-op happy.

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