Daily Co-op: A Short History

By Marci White

Looking through the Daily Co-op photo albums from the last ten years, it is apparent that hundreds of extraordinarily kind, generous, helpful people have contributed to making Daily what it is today. The journey has been one marked by joy and sharing among friends, hard labor, creative brainstorming, tedious meetings, head-butting… and lots and lots of good food distributed by the people, for the people of this community. Of course Daily could not be what it is without all of the members and all of their collective exertions, both big and small. However, a few individuals have been so influential and dedicated so much time and energy to Daily that it is fair to say that Daily would either not exist without them, or not be the quite the hub of health, community exchange and progressive ideas that it is today.

Us old-timers remember that the first incarnation of Daily Co-op was not a co-op at all, but a general grocery/convenience store formed by Mamie Fike and Quentin. The store, called Daily Groceries, was designed to address a wide variety of consumer needs in the wake of the departure of Bell’s - the grocery store that had served the neighborhood from the current Potter’s House building. Daily opened in February of 1992 next to the Grit (in the space that the expanded Grit now occupies). It was a small, homey, artsy kind of place where one could find organic flour, Moon Pies, vegetables, Oreos, juice, toilet paper… basically, all the necessities of life that Mamie and Quentin could conceive of that would fit into that small space. But perhaps the store was trying to be too much to too many, and not enough of one thing, for by the summer they had decided to sell the store.

Enter Angie Grass, who had moved to Athens from Minnesota not long before, and had been working at Daily as a general helper, handy person and cashier. Angie had had some experience working in a cooperative grocery store in Minnesota, and was devastated when Daily folded, both because she loved the store, and also because she didn’t want to lose her job. In her own words:

“At the time, you truly could not buy an apple anywhere downtown. I was really sad about the store closing, and both Mamie and Quentin just wanted out at that point, because it had been a huge financial and emotional burden, and it just wasn’t working. They wanted to find a buyer who could buy the whole business. A friend of mine said, ‘Why don’t you buy it?’, and I just laughed, because I had no capital at all. But I started to think about a co-op, and I knew that not just one person owned it. So without any clear idea of what kind of financial resources a project like that would take, I started asking around to see who would be interested in becoming a member. I had a naïve idea that if I could find a bunch of people who would be willing to give $60.00, then we would have enough to buy the store, which was crazy. But oddly enough, the very first person I asked was Mindy Pfieffer. Without knowing how much I was thinking of asking for, she said, ‘Yeah! I want to be an investor!’.

“It was total karma that we ran into each other that day. She was really wanting a big project to be involved in right then, she had funds for a big project, and she really liked Daily. So she was the first person I asked, and after her, I didn’t have to ask anyone else! She came up with the loan money.

“I didn’t know anyone here at the time who knew about co-ops. People had heard about co-ops, but they didn’t know anything about them. Quentin knew of this person who lived in North Carolina who knew about co-ops, so I called Kay Frances, hoping she would help me. She said she wanted to move to Athens, but there was no co-op here, so when I told her what I wanted to do she was so excited. ‘Oh my God! Let’s do it!’, she said.”

And so we had what former manager Michael Wegner calls “a fortunate combination of individuals” to form the original management team. The three women possessed an abundance of energy, charm, ingenuity, and panache – all of which would come in good use during the initial months and years of the Daily Co-op.

Angie, though a recent arrival in Athens, was extremely outgoing and a good people-organizer. “Angie had that rare energy that drew people together, and that was essential,” says Kay. Angie’s other forte was in fixing and building things, and she became the Co-op’s handyperson with a creative flair. One example of her work is the produce sign that still hangs above the produce, made of springs, chairs and other junk.

Kay had co-op management experience and a solid understanding of what a co-op should be. She was initially the produce manager and grocery buyer. “Kay made us aware of what it meant to be a co-op and that we were part of a larger co-op movement with roots and commonly held principles,” remembers Michael.

The whole project wouldn’t have been possible without Mindy’s financial support and enthusiasm for the store. She bought the business and put up the capital to get things going with the understanding that Daily would begin to pay her back when it could. It wasn’t until 1999 that Daily was able to buy the business from her and become an official, member-owned cooperative. Even today the debt isn’t completely paid off.

Mindy could be seen occasionally gliding down the aisles in roller skates, feather duster in hand, red hair flowing behind her. Or doing sit-ups and push-ups behind the cash register when business was slow.

The first organizational meeting of Co-op members took place at the Unitarian Church (now the Healing Arts Center), and drew quite a crowd. It was at that meeting that Michael Wegner, insisting that the Daily Co-op should be open daily, found himself volunteering to take over the Monday shift in order to keep the store open and to give the managers a day off. Michael became an increasingly important part of the running of the Co-op, eventually taking over the grocery buying duties from Kay, and becoming a full-fledged manager himself in the fall of ’93.

The job of financial manager sort of fell into Kay’s lap when she realized what a great need there was for someone to do it. “It wasn’t like I was especially well-suited for it,” she recalls. “It was just that I was reasonably good at math, I was willing to do it, and it needed to get done.” (Thanks, Kay!)
Another indispensable, behind-the-scenes person was landlord Michael Stipe, who held the space for the store during the first three months while the managers scrambled to get things up and running, and was willing to give Daily some slack during the first, difficult years.

The Daily Groceries Co-op opened on October 17, 1992, keeping the name “Daily” because it was a great name, and also because it came with the business. The new, beautiful, apple-shaped sign made for the old store was kept, and the same checks could be used.

From the beginning, there was strong community involvement in the store, and the unusual level of member support involved in running the store is still a matter of Daily pride. Especially in the first year, some people wouldn’t just come in and work their two hour shift - they would as many hours as they could, because they knew their help was needed. There were huge projects that required an immense amount of volunteer help, such as jack-hammering out the old concrete blocks that lined the store (from when it had been a laundry mat) and laying down the new, shiny, red and green, vinyl tile floor. After that job, Daily held a “sock-hop” in the empty room, with the whole membership dancing and sliding around in socks.

Despite all of the help, by the end of the first year in business, the Co-op was on shaky ground. “We didn’t start out with as much money as we needed to get through the first couple years,” says Kay. “The formation of the Board of Directors at the end of that first year was really important, because we needed the direction that the Board would give us. The Co-op seemed like a relaxed place, but because we didn’t have the structure we needed, being a manager at the Co-op wasn’t exactly relaxing!” The Board provides important support for the managers, taking some of the decision-making pressure off of them and giving feedback on their performance.

One of the biggest (and ongoing) tasks at Daily has always been ironing out who is responsible for what. With three, or sometimes four, equal managers, and a rotating cast of working members, clarity and accountability has always been a challenge. Some of the essential tasks that the Board has performed include helping to make job descriptions, instituting an evaluation process for managers and writing by-laws.

Now jumping ahead five years to 1997, we find that Mindy has moved on to other things, and Daily has outgrown its space and is looking forward to moving into its current space at 197 Prince Ave. Construction company DOC renovated the space to suit Daily’s needs. Michael Wegner organized a Human Chain to move the smaller items from the old store to the new one. About 100 people lined Prince Avenue and moved most of the contents of the store hand-to-hand. It was inspiring to see the community support for Daily in such a tangible form. People who knew nothing about the Co-op pitched in that day, and some of them became long-time members.

The new space was far more efficient, well-lit, spacious and hospitable than the old space. But the move required big adjustments, unforeseen expense, and put a lot of stress on Daily’s leadership. Before the move was accomplished, Angie decided to leave the Co-op due to managerial disputes. She went on to found the Flicker Theatre and Bar downtown, and has been an influential person in the local independent film scene. She also continues to work as a handyman.

During the last six years Daily has made huge strides in terms of developing more professional standards, a more smoothly running store and more democratic procedures. No longer does it seem like a funky little club of young artists, musicians and health nuts. All kinds of people – young and old, single people and families, bohemians, students and professionals shop side by side in a store that is still very intimate and friendly.

Another historic shift took place at the Co-op with Michael and Kay both leaving last year (2001) and an influx of new leadership and new ideas - or maybe just new takes on the old ideas. Managers Marc Tissenbaum and Andy Dixon both present a vision of the Co-op becoming more of what it already is. “I see us becoming even more of a community center, with more local produce and local products, and one day expanding to include an eat-in deli,” says Andy.

“I envision a monthly calendar with workshops and events that are educational and environmentally friendly,” adds Marc. “I’d also like to see board members chairing committees, members filling in the positions, and those people together deciding what we want to do, so that the hands-on work of running the Co-op isn’t so much the jurisdiction of just the managers and board members."

There isn’t enough space here to mention all of the pivotal people in Daily’s history, but there are a few who really should be mentioned. The ones who come to mind are: Sue and Barry Stock, who were very involved from the beginning. Barry did graphic design and computer work, and Sue was on the Board. Lou Kregel, who has made most of Daily’s signs, was the first one to start making deli foods, and made sandwiches for a long time. Tom Pynn served on the Board longer than anyone, and had a strong hand in shaping the philosophy of the store. Ginger Dollar did a bang-up job as community relations manager, drawing lots of people to the Co-op in an organized and cohesive way. Polly Hanson was another manager with punch. Ivy Edmondson functioned as the “Co-op police” for years, helping to make sure that things got done the way they needed to. Chris Sparnicht donated an incredible amount of his time and skills as “on-call computer geek” for five years, training people, repairing computers, networking, creating databases, and being the webmaster. Tom Russell has played an important part as binder and peacemaker during recent transitions.

This is only a partial list. Everyone who has been part of this vibrant community over the years should be proud of the part they have played in improving the quality of life for so many people.