Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Howdy Wheatsville folks!

YAHOO!!! We had a record breaking day on Member Appreciation Day and a record breaking week, too! Thanks for everyone who came out big on Member Appreciation Day and the entire week. We really do appreciate your support. Thanks also to all of the staffers who worked extra hard to keep the shelves stocked and the lines moving! Our next Member Appreciation Day will be in July! (Sales aren't the most important thing at Wheatsville, of course, but they can be an indicator of whether we are meeting people's needs and whether we are drawing more people into our co-op. That's why we get excited about sales records!)

In the rest of this (somewhat) e-mail:
Coupon Books!
Spring Member Gathering!
Expansion Update!
Deli yummyness!
New stuff on our web-site!
Last few days for March Co-op Advantage Specials
Some non-Wheatsville events of note! 

Saving you some money!
Co-op Advantage Coupon books should have arrived in your mailbox recently! If you didn't get one, we'll have them at the member center for you to get. I calculated that there is over $30 in savings on products that we carry in the store in this version of the book! So, check it out and use 'em up! We really want to redeem as many coupons as possible, so don't be shy! This is one of the great benefits of pooling our resources with all of the other co-ops in the National Co-op Grocers Association! Cooperation works!

Gather ye members, while ye may (Well actually in April!)
You are invited (and encouraged) to attend our Spring Member Gathering. It's Sunday April 15th here at Wheatsville from 1-5pm. We'll have a short business meeting followed by small group discussions (using a group dialogue process called World cafe.) These discussion topics are still being worked out by your board, but they will be about big picture topics relating to Wheatsville's future and it's role in Austin. After this great dialogue time, we'll have pizza from our neighbors at Mangia along with Root Beer on tap! We'll also unveil the (more or less) final floor plan for the renovation and talk and walk through all things expansion! I hope you can make it! I think it will be an enriching and fun time!

Expandorama
Not a lot new to report, but wanted to let you know where we are at. We have selected our preferred General Contractor and have begun working with them to get their bid (the best of a competitive bid process that we held) more in line with our budget. We expect this process to yield good results. Once we have a budget number and schedule, we'll need to finalize our financing on the project which will take a few weeks. I expect that we will be able to start construction in just a few months time. Thank you for your patience. As we get closer to construction, I will give more regular updates and the section on our web-site labeled "Expansion Project" will be updated regularly. 

A note about financing: we plan to reopen our Member Investment program again shortly. A year ago, we raised over $700,000 from member-owners to help us make the project a reality. We are allowed to raise up to a million dollars and the more we raise from members, the less we need from a bank. The program will be much the same as last time; $1,000 minimum investment for a period of 5-7 years with a dividend of 4% paid annually. If you're interested in learning more, e-mail me back or keep an ear out for the official relaunch coming in the next few months.

Deli is a yummy place!
Nearly all of the food that the deli serves is handmade right in our tiny little kitchen on-premises here at Wheatsville. We hand crack the eggs, chop the veggies, and mix the ingredients. This is becoming less and less of the practice throughout the food industry and I am proud of what our deli accomplishes in difficult conditions (which will improve in the renovation!) 
Beginning April 1st, the deli will be offering 2 new Co-op Share recipes from our from our friends at Outpost Natural Foods in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Alpha Omega Salad
This salad is made with Kamut, an ancient, high protein wheat kernel with a nutty taste. We add lots of fresh vegetables, roasted sunflower seeds, flax seed oil, garlic and chives, then dress it all up in a tangy lemon vinaigrette
Lemon Cheesecake Bars

A just right portion of hand made cheesecake in an easy to eat bar. Made from scratch using Neufchatel cheese, free range eggs, butter, lemon and sugar, this is a perfect brunch item or after lunch snack.

 Sweet Serrano salsa is the April salsa of the month – In celebration of summer the April salsa is blends the sweetness of peaches and the heat of sautéed serranos…..

 Easter is this month, look to the meat department for lamb, produced locally on a small farm, and ham for your Easter spread….

As summer heads our way asparagus and artichokes come into season.  Check out the deli for roasted asparagus with garlic and almonds or the asparagus orzo salad to name a few of our seasonal recipes.  

New stuff on our web-site!
Aldia, our web magician, has added some cool new features to our web-site http://www.wheatsville.coop :
The deli menu is now available on-line! Share it with your non-Wheatsville friends!
Bulk cooking directions are now on-line! No more wondering how to cook that bag of grain in your pantry!
Employment opportunities are now on-line, too! Looking for work? Wheatsville could be for you!

Co-op Advantage Specials!
As we head out of March, there are only a few days left to stock up on whatever Co-op Advantage specials that you loved in March. March sales end at close on March 31st. But! April sales begin on Sunday April First (no foolin'!) Specials can be downloaded on-line http://wheatsville.coop/CAP%20flyers/SW0307%20final.pdf

There are a couple of non-Wheatsville events of note:

Our friends at Mother's Cafe had a terrible fire a few weeks ago that has put them out of business for a while. Here is n opportunity to do good and have fun – this Thursday:  Mother's employee benefit at Threadgills South

Thursday, March 29th
Cost: $20 the door or via www.frontgatetickets.com
Time: Doors open at 6:30
Goeff Kaiser at 7:00
Redd Volkhaert at 7:30 ( www.reddvolkaert.net), an amazing guitarist and entertainer who just won several awards at the Austin Chronicle Music Awards. He's also plays in he great band, Heybale! who played our 30th Anniversary party last year!
Eric Johnson at 9:00 (www.ericjohnson.com) Grammy award winner ranked as Guitar Playermagazine's Best Overall Player five times in a row and the Austin Chronicle's Guitar Player of the Decade in 2000. In April, 2005, Johnson walked off the Austin Music Awards stage the Austin Musician of the Year Award; Best Electric Guitarist Award; and, Best Acoustic Guitarist Award.  

This is an easy way to help support Mother's and their staff through this tough time.



Third Coast Film Night atAlamoDrafthouse, "Our Daily Bread"
Wednesday, April18, 7 p.m.

"Our Daily Bread" reveals the little-known world of high-tech agriculture. In a series of visually stunning, continuously tracking, wide-screen images that seem right out of a science-fiction movie, we see the places where food is cultivated and processed: surreal landscapes optimized for agricultural machinery, clean rooms in cool industrial buildings designed for maximum efficiency, and elaborate machines that operate on a 'disassembly line' basis.

There's little space for humans here. They almost seem like flaws in this system: undersized and vulnerable, though they adapt as best they can, with chemical suits, respirators, ear protectors, and helmets. They do the jobs for which machines have not yet been invented.

Dispensing entirely with explanatory commentary or 'talking-head' interviews, "Our Daily Bread" unfolds on the screen like a disturbing dream: an endlessly fascinating flow of images, an insistent gaze, accompanied only by the persistent industrial soundtrack--whirring, clattering, booming, slurping--of the ingenious marvels of mechanization employed by agri-business.

"Devastating!A Must-See!"  -- New York Times

"Outstanding! Provocative! Eccentrically lovely and frequently horrifying."  -- Premiere

Location: Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Downtown, 4th andColorado.

Tickets - $7 general / $5.50 student, senior - are available at the event or online at drafthouse.com.

 
Are you our MySpace friend? (We have 208 now!)
http://www.myspace.com/wheatsvillecoop

I hope you have a great week!
Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy!