The letter below was sent to all member owner contact information we had. We emailed the letter to 886 members on 10/24 and snail-mailed to 781 members on 10/27.
141 North Pleasant Street
P.O. Box 169
Amherst, MA 01002
https://commonsharefood.coop/
October 20, 2025
Dear Common Share Food Co-op Member-Owner,
You are requested to attend an urgent special meeting of the member-owners of the food co-op on Tuesday, November 11th at 6pm at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Amherst (121 North Pleasant Street) to vote on the Co-op’s future.
This is a follow up to our special meeting last April, during which we shared some of the challenges we were facing and the opportunities we saw. We asked members to step forward to join our board. While we did get four new board members, we need ones with skills and experience to move the business forward.
Since the Crossroads meeting, the Co-op has been dealt three new significant challenges.
- The East Amherst store site is no longer viable. An additional $1.5 million would be required to modify the building’s substructure to support a grocery store, and the bank declined to extend this financing. We must now identify a new site and commission an updated market study.
- The board recognizes we lack key skills required to move forward with the current business plan.
- The board does not see strong evidence that Amherst has the level of sustained community engagement required for a cooperative to thrive.
The board has completed the following due diligence:
- Maintained ongoing mentoring and regular consultation with Co-op consultants including Food Coop Initiative (https://fci.coop/), Neighboring Food Coop Association (https//nfca.coop) and other co-op experts
- Contracted for a market study (positive, but noted a high level of competition from other local grocery stores, and that our market is smaller than most co-ops of the proposed size)
- Contracted with Columinate (https://columinate.coop/) to build and maintain a ten-year proforma (a financial model that predicts outcomes using variable inputs combined with typical industry values like general manager salary, and operating reserves as a percentage of sales.)
- Met with River Valley Market about possible merger. Their response was not at this time nor in the foreseeable future.
- We also met with Jade Barker, a 14-year board member of the River Valley Market, for advice about transitioning the project.
At this point, the board sees three options:
- Move forward with the current business plan (7,000 sq ft retail space, raise at least $4.2 M)
- Reboot the business plan (e.g., smaller store, buying club, distribution-only phone app)
- Vote to unincorporate (requires 2/3rds vote of members present).
If you are unable to come to the meeting, request a ballot by emailing bod@commonsharefood.coop and return it by November 10th. Your vote will be counted if option 3 above is the result of the meeting.
To move forward with option 1 or 2, we need seven new board members who bring one or more of the following skills:
- Business development or cooperative business experience
- Fundraising and grant writing expertise
- Real estate or retail operations knowledge
- Strong communication and social media skills
If you are passionate about bringing a food co-op to Amherst, have some of the skills listed above, and are interested in joining the board, please email us at bod@commonsharefood.coop by November 5th, and include a description of your skills and experience.
We know some of you still have the hope and energy to try to make this work. We know many of you have put your labor, passion, and commitment toward the shared vision of a member-owned store that supports local and sustainable agriculture, strengthens our food supply resilience, and keeps more of our food dollars in our community. Thank you!
This meeting will decide the future of this food Co-op in Amherst. We hope you can join us.
Sincerely,
The Common Share Food Co-op Board of Directors
JuPong Lin
Madeleine Charney
Mark Bucciarelli
Paige Shaffer
Sue Morrello