At our March 19th owners’ meeting, a small group of Louisville Community Grocery (LCG) owners volunteered to explore ways that LCG could start selling groceries before we build a store. One way is a “buying club,” which has a small space for receiving, storing, and distributing food but
not an actual storefront. For example, a buying club might accept food orders from its members every Wednesday (in person or online) and distribute the food on Friday. A buying club usually serves only its member-owners, and not the general public. Starting a buying club could be a
low-cost, low-risk way for LCG to grow into a full-service grocery store. It would help us learn the items to stock in the store, the payment methods that our community prefers, and other things that will make our owners and community members happy to shop at LCG.
The LCG Buying Club Working Group is putting together a proposal to bring to the LCG Board for approval. We would start the buying club as an experiment, with the intention of improving and expanding it as we go. We will ask for your suggestions and concerns every step of the way. To help us get started, please answer a quick 2-question survey. Thank you!
If you would like to join the LCG Buying Club Working Group, please contact Arte Chambers at LouisvilleCommunityGrocery@gmail.com.