Wheatsville Co-op Austin, TX

[Dan Gillotte <gm AT wheatsville.coop>]

Hi Wheatsville friends!

It's the most wonderful time of year at your co-op! Patronage Rebate time!
This weekend, we'll be handing out rebate checks to eligible Gold Card Owners.

Wheatsville had a great financial year last year, so we are once again able to return a rebate to our owners based on their purchases in the previous year. It’s a great thing to be able to do. 
Consumer Cooperatives like Wheatsville are a special kind of business, as you know. We’re so special, that even the Federal Government and the IRS recognize us in a unique way. We are allowed to return a portion of our net savings to our owners when we are sufficiently profitable. This year we will return our third patronage rebate in a row and our 5th in the history of the co-op.
The cool thing about co-ops is that the return isn’t based on your investment like it would be in a typical business, but it’s based on your purchases or patronage at the co-op. So, we’ll return your rebate based on your percentage of purchases at the co-op in the last fiscal year. Eligible Members who spent more will receive a larger rebate! Pretty cool!
This is the official eligibility language from the new Membership Administration Guidelines:

Rebates are generally restricted to fully invested owners in good standing who have sufficient patronage to justify the expense of distributing their portion.

Status was determined by our membership database as of 12/10/07. "Fully invested owner in good standing" means Gold Card or Group membership not flagged for returned mail. "Sufficient patronage to justify the expense" of distribution was defined as at least $600 patronage recorded by the POS system from June 1, 2006 to May 31, 2007. We did include patronage on annual accounts (Orange Cards) that were upgraded to eligible investment accounts if our records showed that the annual joining fee was transferred to the investment account. If the accounts were not linked in this way, we were unable to provide credit for purchases on a former account number.

We’ll be handing out checks in the store this weekend Dec. 14th, 15th, 16th, and 17th. Checks that aren’t picked up by close of business on Monday will be mailed out later that week. 

Thank you all for your patronage and I hope that you enjoy your check if you get one! 

Holidays don't have to be a pain!
We've got a lot of cool holiday gift ideas in our store from cool daily planners and calendars to Pig Catapults and beyond! Come check us out for fun and wonderful gifts!

The Deli is getting ready for the holidays!!!! You will find all your holiday fixins’ in our deli, including but not limited to, vegan Cornbread Stuffing, delicious vegan gravy, Roasted Root veggies, and Savory Yams.

Don't forget the pie! We've got pies and more pies – Traditional & vegan Pumpkin, Pecan, vegan Coconut crème, and Chocolate Peanut butter. 

So relax for the holidays and let us do your cooking!

Owner coupons in the deli include: 

Applegate sliced meats, 1 pound minimum, $1.00 off total purchase price

Walnut pate, in self serve…..50¢ off total price

Pimiento cheese, in self serve…….25¢ off total price

Pimiento Cheese and Walnut Pate are just two of our delicious spreads that can help make a delicious addition to any gathering of friends or family!

The deli can also get you party trays for your events (with 2 day notice) 
A Cheese tray, Mediterranean tray or meat and cheese tray can really make a party happen!

Nog yourself out!
Now is the time of Nog. We've got Organic Nog, regular old Nog and SIlk Nog and Pumpkin Spice Silk Nog! Whoaah! A nog for all tastes!

Look on-line for our December Co-op Advantage Specials http://wheatsville.coop/CAP%20flyers/SW1207.pdf

Have a great week!

Dan Gillotte
Wheatsville GM and e-mail guy