<html>
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8">
</head>
<body>
<p>FWIW <br>
</p>
<p>Searching this US worker-coop directory yielded 10 examples of
coop bookstores and bookstores registered as "democratic
workplaces" which I do not yet know the definition of:<br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="https://www.usworker.coop/directory/"
class="moz-txt-link-freetext">https://www.usworker.coop/directory/</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Orca in Olympia is not listed which gives me the feeling that
there may be (many) more out there also not registered here. The
locations of most of these are the usual suspects: San Francisco,
Seattle, Asheville, Austin, etc.<br>
</p>
<p>My favorite coop experience was the Cheeseboard Pizza Collective
in Berkeley. When i was there they had a line around the block
on Thursday and Friday nights (maybe Saturday also) when they
opened at 4 or 5 PM. As the lore went, every member of the coop
worked every role, from cook to cashier to cleanup crew
"equally"... and they apparently had a long waiting list of people
wanting to join the coop. I don't know how much profit/pay the
members got, but it was reputed to be militaristically in it's
equality in all ways and was/is apparently high functioning enough
that people really want to join... <br>
</p>
<p>It was take-out only but as your part of the line entered the
building, you had the option of being handed a "slice" when you
ordered to eat while you waited to have the order fulfilled
(usually less than 5 minutes, the ovens were running full-tilt all
the time). If not eating one in place, they would instead place
a single slice on top of your box(es) for the person picking up to
eat on the way home, avoiding that embarassment when you get there
and everyone teases you about the "missing slice" in the box.
"couldn't wait could ya?"!<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 3/1/23 4:16 PM, Steve Smith wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:990b8221-39c7-f8fc-a1c3-edcef96ccc17@swcp.com">Excellent!
This is the kind of feedback I was fishing for. I am reading some
of Orca's materials on their CoOpness and can imagine that it is a
hard thing to pull together without one or a very few strong
personalities with the motivation to move it along crisply. That
is definitely not me.
<br>
<br>
I was not aware of *any* bookstore coops in existence so this is
very useful and motivates me to maybe look around for other
examples.
<br>
<br>
Peggy has a new employee working there with her who seems pretty
competent and motivated, I will maybe stop in sometime when she is
not around (not sure when that is because she used to be there
*all the time*) and feel out his interest/ability to step up in
any capacity... she is a dedicated but difficult personality and
I don't really want to interfere with her process whatever it
might be, just see if I can facilitate a "better outcome" to show
up.
<br>
<br>
On 3/1/23 3:50 PM, glen wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">FWIW, if there were a lot of people
interested in helping out a little bit, consider setting up a
co-op. This store here in Oly did that soon after we moved up
here. It was difficult because they transitioned, rather that
constructed from scratch.
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.orcabooks.com/co-op">https://www.orcabooks.com/co-op</a>
<br>
<br>
And I don't see Book Mountain on this list:
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bookshop.org/pages/bookstores">https://bookshop.org/pages/bookstores</a>
<br>
<br>
It's probably too little/late for it to help Book Mountain now.
But if someone does take over, it would make sense to get on the
list.
<br>
<br>
On 3/1/23 14:43, Steve Smith wrote:
<br>
<blockquote type="cite">I was just in Book Mountain which has
been operating in SFe primarily as a paperback exchange since
1980 (just before I moved to the area) and discovered that the
owner, Peggy Frank intends to shut down, probably sooner
rather than later. Here is an article about her move and
rejuvenation of the store a couple of years ago:
<br>
<br>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/business/book-mountain-alive-and-well-in-new-location/article_9003513a-3c8b-11ea-a81e-373351759896.html">https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/business/book-mountain-alive-and-well-in-new-location/article_9003513a-3c8b-11ea-a81e-373351759896.html</a>
<br>
<br>
The new digs and layout were a modest upgrade from what she
had going before, and has a somewhat wider range of books
shelved now, though the emphasis is still on high-turnover
paperback. She has one of the most extensive collections of
Science Fiction I think you fill find this side of Powells
(Portland) or Tattered Cover (Denver).
<br>
<br>
I probably unloaded 1/4 of my "2 cords of books" leftover from
*my* bookstore (Hunt and Gather circa 2006) on her for trade
(my credit is much too large to begin to drain in the short
term).
<br>
<br>
What I am hoping is that one of her customers or someone in
the book loving circle would swoop in and buy it outright. I
have already talked to some of the other booksellers in town
and she has already approached them offering to sell them her
inventory, but the ideal would be for it to remain a viable
business. Her current setup/inventory/curation works and is
by far more valuable than the mere inventory (which would need
to be sorted, shelved, etc. again).
<br>
<br>
If anyone here knows of anyone suitable for taking on such an
operation I highly recommend it, but I suspect the time is
short. Peggy is just coming out of some health-challenges and
I sense she will not be willing/able to wait very long. I
am holding out a slim hope that one of the other used-sellers
in SFe might pick it up as a satellite (Op Cit already has had
multiple locations).
<br>
<br>
In any case, spread the word if you can. Maybe there is a
coop model or multiple-partner arrangement that might keep it
going and help Peggy leave the business cleanly/gracefully.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
-. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -..
.
<br>
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
<br>
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a>
<br>
to (un)subscribe
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a>
<br>
FRIAM-COMIC <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a>
<br>
archives: 5/2017 thru present
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a>
<br>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
-. --- - / ...- .- .-.. .. -.. / -- --- .-. ... . / -.-. --- -.. .
<br>
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
<br>
Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://bit.ly/virtualfriam">https://bit.ly/virtualfriam</a>
<br>
to (un)subscribe
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com">http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com</a>
<br>
FRIAM-COMIC <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/">http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/</a>
<br>
archives: 5/2017 thru present
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/">https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/</a>
<br>
1/2003 thru 6/2021 <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/">http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/</a>
<br>
<br>
</blockquote>
</body>
</html>