Merrilyn Jackson, Co-Op Chair, Store Manager, Vanessa James cutting the birthday cake, Kylie Bowditch.
The Coota Co-Op has been in operation for over three years and it is currently at a crossroads.
There is no point beating around the bush. With increases in rent, cost of purchasing stock, wages and utilities going up, all while residents and members of the Co-Op experience a Trump war on Iran, rise in cost of fuel and a cost of living crisis, the Co-Op must continue to adapt to survive.
Staff from the Times attended the 3rd birthday celebrations and meeting at the Ex-Services Club on Saturday where a beautiful cake was cut, fond memories shared and the brutal reality of running a retail business in a small town brings was discussed.
The Co-Op’s target is to have revenue of over $35 thousand a month and this means that then the Co-Op’s net profit can go back into the community. If it can do that, Coota will have the great store that the Co-Op has become and all of the effort that went in to it by so many locals to replace the departure of Target.
Of the 1200 members approximately 30 filled a small room at the Ex-Services. It wasn’t a large turn out but it was a passionate one.
As members of the Co-Op our team went to Coota on Monday to get photos and videos, talk to staff and volunteers and help work out a plan going forward to market what is a great store.
As a man in my early 40s I couldn’t get over the variety of stock for men and women, boys and girls, young and old. I walked out with 2 pairs of track pants for $70 in a 5xl size which I like. Two pencil cases, a warship game, kids pants. Total $113
If the Co-Op is to survive the mathematics has been done. All 1200 odd members need to spend $210 each year. We went halfway and it won’t be hard to get there. We live in Harden but you can’t get socks or undies in the twin towns or shoes. Clothing wise, you would be better off getting yarn and taking up knitting.
You don’t have to be a member of the Co-Op to shop there but it does offer discounts. Sign up on an annual fee of just $20 and the prices go even lower.
The Co-Op is a great entity. It’s not perfect but nothing is. They welcome feedback and you will find friendly staff and volunteers at the shop at the old site of the Coota Herald.
It’s a little ironic that the Co-Op is in the building. The Herald once employed 15 staff just a generation ago and printed three times a week. They provided local employment and turned over close to half a million dollars a year at the time. Newspapers certainly don’t turn that sort of money over these days in one town. In fact, this paper covers 7 towns in an area the size of Fiji with 50,000 residents living in the local government catchment. It’s these people that can TAKE THE DRIVE and support this shop and help the people of Coota and surrounds support this shop.
If you haven’t been to the Co-Op, go there now. You will be amazed at what they have on offer. Take a friend, take a family member and fill the car.
With online purchases through the roof, snail mail costs going up exponentially and parcel delivery taking over, Post Offices are now under threat more than ever. Local media, once the staple of and heart beat of the town struggles to find suitable employees and cover everything they can, becoming more reliant on help.
A clothing store such as the Co-Op cannot be left to die. The Times is nominating the Coota Bulldogs Football Club members/players and supporters to get to the Co-Op this week and make some purchases on items you need. We will nominate an other organisation or several each week over the next 3 months as we go on a marketing campaign so that we can all understand how important the Co-Op and the other local shops in our small towns are. Once they are gone they rarely come back or they change in to something else to survive. Live in the moment, Get to the Coota Co-Op, Parker Street Cootamundra.
More to come.
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
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