Letter to the Editor
SHUTTLE LETTERS POLICY
The Shuttle welcomes letters of interest to the Weavers Way community. Send to editor@weaversway.coop. The deadline is the 10th of the month prior to publication. Include a name and email address or phone number for verification; no anonymous letters will be published. Letters should be 200 words or less and may be edited. Letters express the views of the writers and not those of the Shuttle, the Co-op or its Board. The Shuttle reserves the right to decline any letter.
Co-op Must Weigh Value and Definition of Success
I and my family have been members of Weavers Way for many years, and before that I was a member of food co-ops in a few other cities.
The other day, I was in Elkins Park and stopped into Creekside Co-op. Of course, Creekside is great for its community. There was a Creekside board member there doing some volunteer time. We struck up a short conversation. He said he was grateful to Weavers Way for our assistance to his co-op. I felt proud of the connection.
I hope that Weavers Way will not become so big that it is no longer local and personal to us. In addition, I hope that Weavers Way will not become so prominent that it forgets how to help smaller, regional co-ops on a path toward success.
Some years ago, Weavers Way was making plans to open a café in the location that is now High Point Café. At that time, I wrote the Co-op leadership, sharing my concerns of such an expansion, including that it might exclude independent businesses in the neighborhood. As we know, Weavers Way dropped the plan. The space became High Point Café instead, a wonderful business for our community.
Please include my comments into the discussion of “When Is Our Successful Co-op Too Successful?” I am interested in various views on the question.
— Dan Moscow