Chris Agee stacks shelves in his spare time.
But this isn’t Chris’s full-time job. In fact he’s not getting paid a wage at all. Chris actually teaches political science at City University of New York.
He is one of the 16,000 members of the Park Slope Food Co-op, who volunteers at the store.
The co-operative is one of the few in the US that still has a member labour requirement – members have to work there if they want to shop there.
I can see the logic – that is what a cooperative is all about, after all. However, having stacked shelves when I was in a very desperate situation, I would never do so willingly again. So, no, I wouldn’t join a cooperative that required me to do it – not even for lower prices. I’ll pay the extra and never have to stack shelves again, thankyou very much.
I may be being a bit pedantic here but if working at the shop is a requirement of membership it isn’t really volunteering in the usual sense of the word is it ? What would happen if they had so many members they couldn’t find work for them ? That would be a kind of unemployment, the fact that the work requirement is only 2.75 hours every four weeks suggests they may have reached that point already. It’s really just a hobby rather than proper work.
I can think of better things to do as a hobby than stacking shelves.
I help out at a local old peoples home, specializing in dementia. In the summer I take tourists around the ex concentration camp at Sachsnhausen. (A history degree CAN be usefull…. sometimes.)
Stacking shelves?
Not my thing, but each to their own.
You’re volunteering to help others, FT, these people ‘volunteer’ solely for their own benefit and in doing so deny the poorest members of society job opportunities. I believe that’s fine if you are among the poorest but I’d question the morality of doing it for those on reasonable incomes.
It’s a bit more than shelf stacking. Trust the BBC to focus on the wrong thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3rayQP2W3wg
Indeed. I applaud what they have achieved. I would still never want to stack shelves ever again as long as I live. Far too many bad memories.
Supermarkets do not achieve profit margins of about 33% as implied by the above statement. Profit margins are around 1-2%. The vast bulk of the savings of members are achieved because of the saving on wages.
Saving a third is great for those with very tight budgets themselves, but from my perspective, as a professional engineer with a high income, I’d rather pay the extra money for both the convenience of not having to work in a supermarket and so that those who really need the jobs can have them.
No profit margins are not a simplistic 1 or 2 percent. They vary widely. Inside knowledge you see from a father who spent his career in retail. Never believe the profit margin claimed by a supermarket bod. They are simply accounting points designed with the help of marketing to get the right message out. Same goes for turnover figures and pre/after tax figures. All make believe.
Likewise I saw an article in the Groan recently that claimed driving instructors “earn” £35,000 per year. No, they do not. They may “turnover” that much. They “earn” significantly less – about £20,000 or so.
My wife owned and ran a village shop. Accounts showed profit margins were around 17% but that didn’t take account of my wife’s time (about 60-70 hours a week with no more than 2 weeks leave) and my time (probably about 20 hours a week). The shop used to turnover about £180k to £200k per year, i.e. a bit over £30k profit. If we pay my wife £25k for being shop manager and me minimum wage, even in a good year our profit was not much above 2%.
http://www.redmayne.co.uk/research/securitydetails/financials.htm?tkr=TSCO
PS The day another couple bought into their dream of owning a village shop was one of the happiest days of our lives.
As ever, some pursue their dream without checking on reality…