Original newspaper article announcing the opening of the Co-op
Year-by-year playback... in full color!
Personal memoir of the early days
30 years: Eyewitness to Co-op History, Another Eyewitness to Co-op History

25 Years and Still growing strong

by Kenna S. Eaton, from the January 1998 Newsletter

Twenty-five years ago a small group of people decided to pool their resources to bring natural foods to the Palouse—and thus was born the Co-op ! I've been part of this Co-operative business for over 16 years, and I continue to be impressed by how much we've grown and how we've become an integral part of this community. Not too many businesses can claim that!

There's been many changes at this Co-op over the years. We started life as the Good Food Store and sales in the first month (Aug 1973) were $126.88. Today our sales are over $100,000/month. Our first Board Chair and President, Jim Eagen, remembers hitchhiking down to Boise to incorporate the business in April of 1974. From then on our business continued to grow—though sometimes rather slowly. In the summer of 1976 the Co-op organized the Farmers Market, held in the city parking lot behind the current City Hall. Now that same Farmers Market thrives under the auspices of the Moscow Arts Commission and is a weekly event from May to October.

In December 1976 the Moscow Food Co-op joined with the Spokane, Colville and Pullman Co-ops (of which only North Country Co-op in Colville survives) to support the formation of a wholesale food co-op, Equinox Food Exchange, based near Spokane.

In the early eighties, many store front co-ops closed due to a combination of problems: a lack of skilled managers, under capitalization, increased competition from supermarkets and the collapse of co-op distributors. The Moscow Food Co-op also struggled through those times. I remember a yard sale to raise money to pay the bills, and an enforced three month unpaid layoff in the summer because the Co-op was unable to meet payroll.

Times have changed, and now our Co-op is a healthy strong business with a staff of about 20, a strong balance sheet and good cash flow—and we want to celebrate our success. Now we need you to help us. Being the creative Co-opers that we are, we brainstormed a list of ways to celebrate, but we'd like your help.

What would you like to see? How can we really celebrate this event in a way that is meaningful and fun? Give me your ideas—and here is a few of ours to get you started.

Since the Co-op is 25 years old we came up with the theme of monthly shopping prizes for members: 25# of beans, $25 shopping spree, 25 oaties, 25 loaves of bread. 25# of rice, $25 of cosmetics and you get the idea. We'd like to host a party in our store in October (Co-op month) with raffles and prizes. And of course the 25th Anniversary T-shirt/Apron is already printed and for sale. What else can we do? That's your part, be creative and share your ideas with me!

You can reach Kenna at keaton@moscow.com

Letter to the Editor

From Dorothy Dunne, Sandpoint, Idaho. March 1999 Newsletter

I enjoyed reading the article on the Food Co-op in the Spokesman Review in January. It is very gratifying to know that the Co-op is doing so well that the core of members continue to strive for improvement in its service to the community.

I thought that some of you may be interested in hearing a bit of the history of the Co-op as I recall it. The paper stated that there were only 4 original members, but that is not exactly the case. Jim Eagan and Dave (Mosely? Moser?) and their wives originally ran the store as a private enterprise that they called The Good Food Store. In the spring of `74 they decided to convert the store to a Co-op and held the initial members' meeting in May, after which they handed the store over to the first members - which numbered about 12 or 15. (They neither asked for, nor received, compensation for their investment, by the way.) Dave moved out of the area soon afterwards, but I think that Jim may have purchased a membership. Other people present at that first meeting included Charlie Brown (who was the only original member to buy a life membership - for $15.00), Steven Basoa, myself and my ex-husband, Phil Sawatzky, a lady named Edie (who was the first Co-op manager), another lady named Eileen and her boyfriend, Josh (who wrote the grants that kept us afloat that first year or so). And a few other people whose names I don't recall - some of whom served as the first Board members.

I remember quite well that first meeting when Dave gave us a little 'lecture' on his theories regarding food and its distribution. Jim and Dave believed that food really ought to be free, but since our society isn't set up that way, then people who provide food to their community should make sure it is of good quality and that it is sold as cheaply as possible. We never had a formal 'mission statement', but I think that all of us carried that focus as a seed that seems to have matured very nicely. Mark-up on food (no toothpaste or loofa sponges for sale then) was only 10% at the beginning - just enough to replenish stocks, pay shipping, and give the manager a starvation wage of $200/mo. Not surprisingly Edie only lasted through June. Eileen then managed the store through September with a salary of $300/mo., and Phil came on as manager after that. He was paid $550 and thought it was too much. Every month for the 3 or 4 years that he was manager, Phil gave $100 of his wage back to the Co-op. He did not want anyone to know of his generosity and I've never revealed it until now. Phil loved the Co-op. Working there fed his soul in a way that I'm not sure he has managed to replicate in the work he has done since then. I sometimes wonder if the Co-op could have survived without the dedication he funneled into it - purely a reflection of the good the 'Good Food Store' did for him.

I think most people, including me, were very attached to the name 'The Good Food Store,' which we kept for a year or so. The store was originally located in a teeny, tiny place on the alley between Main and Washington on, I think, 1st Street. I have a lot of good memories of those days. I will never forget the time Peter Basoa walked in one day when I was 'manning' the cash register. "Hi," I said, "You must be Steve's brother!" I think he was quite flabbergasted that a total stranger would recognize an anonymous New York boy, merely from the family resemblance. (It helped, of course, that I'd heard he was planning to visit. And it's nice that he decided to stay...) At that first members meeting Dave joked that they started out with just a bag of lentils, a bag of rice, and a tub of peanut butter. By May of `74, the store also carried a fairly full complement of grains and legumes, honey, a lot of herbs, cheese, and a few other items. Storage space was nonexistent, which wasn't too much of a problem as we had fairly rapid turnover. (Phil was consummately gifted at not overstocking on anything. Even so, we also had extra bags of Lundgrens rice and Baron's flour stashed at our apartment.) The store's development was slow but sure. At the Good Food Store we always tried to keep the needs of the community at the forefront. We wanted to be where the U of I students would have ready access so when we were able, we moved over by 6th and Main. Before the move it also had become evident that most residents did not realize that the town even had a cooperative food outlet. So, at one of our monthly meetings we decided that we should change the name to something that would better reflect what we were and had to offer. We spent a seeming eternity batting around several possibilities when I finally suggested 'The Moscow Food Co-op' (which was boring, but to the point). Much to my surprise, that proposal brought us to consensus.

I'm sometimes amazed that the Co-op, during those early years, successfully navigated all the vicissitudes inherent to small businesses. I still remember with some amusement how business plummeted after the volunteer macrobiotic devotees began lecturing customers on why cheese is bad for them. I imagine that organic produce is the big thing now, but in those days, cheese was our biggest turnover item and pretty much carried the store. (We sold Jack cheese for $.85/lb). But then, the practice of selling whole, organic foods in bulk was in its infancy and there was no competition in that respect from the likes of Safeway or Rosauers. I am just so pleased that the Co-op continues to do so well, and from the description of its new location, I'm guessing that you are in Safeway's old location. Is that ironic or what!

One somewhat bittersweet regret (if you can call it that), is that the Co-op evidently did not have the means - or perhaps the will to buy Joseph Barron's business when he retired some time ago. (He had told Phil years ago that he hoped the Co-op would do so.) But then it seems to have gone to a worthy individual, from what I understand, Barron's was/is the best in the country!

Anyway, I hope all of this is of some interest. Please feel free to copy any of this you'd like for the Co-op's "biography". I'm wishing all of you (Wow! 27 paid employees!) every continued success this next year and every year. If you see Steve, Peter, or Diamond Jeff, tell them Dorothy says 'Hi'. I sure miss those folks and the good times we had. I look back on my years in Moscow with much fondness.