The Maple City Market -- A Contact Zone

THESIS

Maple City Market acts as a contact zone for different borders, bridges, and boundaries by being located between Goshen College and downtown Goshen, Indiana. By being within walking distance of the school, it allows nearby students who may come from different regions of the country (or the world!) to obtain different and specialized types of fruits and vegetables that may not be otherwise accessible within ordinary grocery stores.

             DESCRIPTION

Maple City Market, located on 315 South Main Street, Goshen, Indiana, is a natural food shop that acts as a cooperative. It is located on the edge of downtown Goshen, and it provides naturally grown produce that is delivered by nearby farmers.

Though downtown Goshen also has a farmer’s market, people can choose to contribute to the co-op in order to obtain discounts on other items within the store. It caters to those who are interested in healthy foods at high quality, as well as those who have specialized diets and want to do “one stop shopping” rather than going around to different markets to find certain foods to avoid particular allergens.

It is located on a busy street corner of downtown Goshen, which branches further into downtown in three of the four available directions. By going south, one would find themselves heading towards New Paris. People of all ages enter the cooperative, and young adults are usually the cashiers in the establishment.

In a typical hour, younger people from the nearby college look for specific items such as herbs, allergen free produce, and granola that might be in little to no stock in a regular grocery store that would be less expensive. Middle aged individuals go in looking to try out the new soups and to buy their regular items—this can be assumed based on the familiarity the cashiers and managers the people have with the older patrons in comparison to the younger customers who hardly speak to the workers while purchasing their items.

Because the prices are a little higher than the supermarket, this shop is definitely not for low-income families. Rather, it caters to those who are of middle class. Because the population of the middle class has not changed in quite some time, it seems that the cooperative is staying about the same size, and at the moment it has no intentions of expanding. In addition, the cooperative does not use the money it receives in order to promote its own business. Rather, it gives back into the community to promote the development of the inner city.

STRUCTURE, VISION, AND MISSION

The current general manager of the cooperative is Kum Ng, representing some of the new international influence that Goshen receives yearly through its outreach programs. His influence can be seen throughout the store because there are a lot of Asian spices that cater to those coming from India, Cambodia, Vietnam, and China. Considering that many of the students that come from these countries attend the nearby Goshen College, it makes sense that Ng is reaching out to these specific individuals by providing them items that they would not be able to find elsewhere in the Goshen area. Owners would include Laura Hernandez, the supplier (or supplement buyer, as she calls it) of the Maple City Market and Sarah (no last name given).

In addition, there is a board that collaborates with the owners in order to establish what they would like to see within the co-op and to instill the values the board has into the actual business and organization themselves. Rather than work inside the business, they collaborate with the city board in order to discover ways the business can help to support the community in terms of other small businesses and its citizens. This is how the Maple City Market can choose to allocate its funds to help out businesses like The Window, the fire department, and to share its produce during events like the annual Breast Cancer Walk.

As for interests, the co-op acts on the interests of the manager and owners. The owners voluntarily choose to become members of the co-op and they are people who have shopped there on a regular basis. By becoming owners, they get a number of discounts and select offers, including:

·         Monthly owner-only sales
·         Receive 10% discount on case quantities
·         Receive 5% discount on your total purchases, every third Wednesday
·         A voice in your local co-op by voting for board members  and other special issues, and also the ability to serve on the board as well
·         Receive our bi-monthly newsletter
·         Investment in our community
·         Become eligible to lend the store’s DVD’s

In order to become an owner, there are two options:

1.       Make an annual investment of $20 for five years.
2.       Make one $100 investment and receive an organic cotton grocery bag.

The ownership starts immediately afterward.

Going back to the core values of the co-operative, there are seven principles that are created and designated by the board in order to keep the business “on track.” They are:

1.       Voluntary and open membership
2.       Democratic member control
3.       Members economic participation
4.       Autonomy and independence
5.       Education, training, and information
6.       Cooperation among Co-ops
7.       Concern for community

If the owners keep these values in mind, the board believes the co-op will be successful.

                COMMUNITY OUTREACH

As stated previously, the co-op reaches out to different groups and organizations throughout Elkhart Country and tries to support them in one way or another. Each month they try to support two or three different groups, and records of such efforts are recorded online in the “community outreach” page. At the moment it is incomplete and outdated, as the last time it was updated was August 2012. Regardless, examples of community events and organizations they have supported in the past include:

·         The 2012 Run for Research Campaign
·         The Window*
·         The Goshen Police Department
·         Elkhart County Clubhouse
·         Mosaic Goshen
·         Downtown Goshen, Inc.

*They have contributed to The Window every month since December 2011.

                CONCLUSION

The Maple City Market has integrated fully with its community by not only catering and supporting other small businesses and organizations and thus creating a larger contact zone and base of support, but also takes the interests of the community into its concerns by participating in city hall meetings and having a board of representatives from various backgrounds to ensure that the co-op is able to hold items that are within the community’s interests. In addition, the general manager works with the owners and supplier to ensure that there is enough diversity within the grocery store itself in order to attract others who would otherwise look over the market. This diversity includes having ingredients that cater to the tastes of the international population that cycle not only through the nearby college, but in Elkhart County all together.