To Our Cooperative Community,
Today the Co-op’s Leadership Team made the difficult, but necessary, decision to close our Co-op Market on Lyme Road in Hanover, with a projected closing date set for October 14. Our Market team is dwindling and under a great amount of stress and many challenges at that location. This team has been incredibly dedicated, but we have reached a point where setting a firm closing date can give them the closure they need so they can move forward with their careers.
We are deeply thankful for the amazing team there, and our top priority is to support them during this time of transition. We are working closely with each employee to assist them in finding new roles within the Co-op if they wish or offering severance packages if they feel their future lies elsewhere. Our number one priority has been, and remains, doing right by our team.
Many of you may know, from years of financial reports and annual meeting discussions, what has brought us to this point. Despite the best efforts and tireless commitment of many different people here over the years, we have been unable to make our Co-op Market on Lyme Road a viable retail business. Losses to date are north of $2.6 million, and unfortunately, the ripple effect of this impacts our entire cooperative community. Operating a business at a loss in one area significantly impacts so many areas of our cooperative, including the farmers, vendors, and employees who rely on the Co-op for their livelihoods. Continuing to sustain these losses jeopardizes the viability of so many things our cooperative values and the principles we hold dear.
While this is a challenging time, it is important to remember that our focus remains on building a strong cooperative future. At the end of the day, we are a cooperative, which means we are about people, not about buildings.
We will continue to assess the future use of the space and will keep our entire cooperative community informed of the next steps. For now, we offer a heartfelt thank you to all of our Market teams, both past and present, who have worked so hard to build and operate a store that’s been such an important part of our cooperative’s story.
Cooperatively,
Dawn
Dawn Archambeault is the Co-op’s Director of Marketing & Consumer Relations.
Sorry to hear this. I have supported this location for a LONG time..
I DO question why this loss is so large and went on for so long.
I DO hope that the employees are taken care of – like you suggest.
Hi John and thanks so much for your comment. You ask a good question. The loss is so big and went on for so long because we spent many years trying to turn the store around. Unfortunately, the store was built in 2008 with the hope of serving a new planned community in that area, but that plan never came to fruition. The store was in trouble from the start, and simply didn’t have the traffic to make it a go.
We’re happy to report that many of our team members have accepted new positions within the Co-op. The ones who have opted to move on are being offered a severance package, recommendations, and resume-writing and job-placement services.
I have a naïve question: it seems like this place is too valuable for the town to turn this into some building other than what it’s zoned for, so zoning board certainly sees some value in having this remain a marketplace and a community gathering place. so isn’t there some agreement that can be made with the town Similar to the way the Nugget has been supported?
Hi Stephen,
We certainly wish some sort of agreement could have been made, too. So you ask a great question, and it’s not naive at all. At this point we’re hoping our Market customers will find the Hanover store to be a convenient alternative, just a little over a mile away.
i have 1 thing to say, why did you not open the ice cream that could have saved your buisness
Hi Matthew and thanks for reaching out. I can understand the question. We went through this as well, hoping that the right product mix or new offering would turn things around. But the store simply didn’t have the traffic. All of us here certainly wish that it did.
Not being negative here, but, When it was opening earlier there were a lot more people in the store. Since the later opening in the am the Market has lost all the traffic on Lyme Road from CRREl, Darmouth Printing, and Kendal employees.
“At this point we’re hoping our Market customers will find the Hanover store to be a convenient alternative, just a little over a mile away.” It maybe convenient it if was open earlier, store opens at 08:00 most people are all at work by that time.
Hi Dave,
I don’t think that’s being negative in the least. I think that’s great feedback. I’ll share that with others on our teams here. Thanks for having the interest and for reaching out.
how’s the co-op considered a mixed-use proposal for the property? I wonder if the town might accept something where you maintain a lunch counter and small prepared food section, more like a convenience store than a market, with the commissary taking up the majority of the space.
Hi there! Apologies! I just noticed your comment. We did explore this, and many other options and configurations. It wasn’t feasible, unfortunately. Which brought us back to where we started, a long-term issue in which the area simply doesn’t have the traffic to support the store. Thank you for your thoughts regardless! We appreciate the creativity.