January 18, 2013
Volunteers Rescue Independent Grocer
After finding friendly service and unique merchandise assortments didn’t serve as a good enough defense against the arrival of larger supermarket chains, one small independent found another way to survive: local volunteers.
Between 25 to 50 of the 120 residents in the town of Itteringham in Norfolk county, England volunteer at The Village Shop at chores such as stacking shelves, cooking, manning the cash register, cleaning and delivering orders. The volunteers save around £350-a-week on wages, which represents 20 percent of the store’s £2,000-a-week turnover, enabling the store to break even.
Celebrating its 370th year at the same premises, the store is one of Britain’s oldest shops and is said to be deeply intertwined within the community. A book, The Village Shop, charting its history has just been published to honor and further support the store.
The volunteering appears to have begun around 18 years ago after Brian Fairhead, who’s family had run the shop since 1908, died of cancer. Facing closure, the local villagers raised nearly £5,000 to keep its doors open and formed the Itteringham Community Association. The store has since been community run.
Mike Hemsley, store manager, implied that there’s no formal process around volunteering. He tells the Daily Mail, "It starts with people just popping into the shop and talking to us then they offer to lend a hand. Next thing they are our new delivery driver. It’s amazing really. It is such a closely knit village and we are all friends."
Mr. Hemsley adds that since most of its staff are volunteers, they have an "enthusiasm that salaried workers don’t have. The shop would be lost without all the villagers. But I think they would be lost without the shop too."
The Itteringham shop is one of only 301 community-owned shops in the U.K, according to the Plunkett Foundation, which helps rural communities with community-ownership.
"Community shops are a way of bucking the trend and rising to the challenge is the thing that makes us a success," Mr. Hemsley told the BBC. "In spite of the recession the village is taking steps to get customers into the shop, rather than saying because of the recession it’s going to be quieter and we should give up."
- Itteringham Community Shop celebrates 370 years of trade – BBC
- One of Britain’s oldest shops is saved from onslaught of the supermarkets after half the villagers agree to work there for free – Daily Mail
- Celebrations as pioneering Itteringham Village Shop comes of age – Eastern Daily Press
- The community where half the village is in the shop window – The Times
BrainTrust
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Would volunteer-supported or community-run stores work in the U.S.? Do you see support for local stores in the U.S. rising to the level of volunteerism?
Poll
The US doesn’t really have the sense of history or tradition that the UK does. We are all free market all the time. And that’s a serious shame. I can’t see this scenario happening here.
But on the positive side, what we have seen, and continue to see in the US, is people donating their time to keep large chains out of their town/neighborhood in the first place. Just ask Walmart. Frankly, it’s a shame that an entire country is down to 301 community owned shops.
Personally, I try to buy local as often as I can.
While this may be one of the things that make the British Empire great…wait, that empire is gone! And ideas like this one, while giving me that warm and fuzzy feeling, are unlikely to become very popular, especially outside of villages of 120.
I moved to rural Vermont for the sense of community I could not find in NYC and its suburbs. I could easily see this happening in Vermont, not so much over competition, but over the risk of losing the only (unprofitable) store in 25 miles. If the general store in my town were ever in trouble and faced closing, there’d be a line of volunteers running out the door. People love the store and its owners.
This is more a combination of self-interest and community than it is pure community do-good. But I’ll take it any day.
Will support rise for local businesses? Probably, but only if they are competitive.
Will that support rise to the level of volunteerism? I’d give that less than a 1% chance of happening!
There are a lot of very worthy causes that you can volunteer to help out with. Volunteering to keep a retailer in business isn’t one of them.
Self interest has dictated the volunteerism. Making a profit would require being competitive with actual staff knowing and managing the business—not a drop-in clinic. Great press, odd message “If you can’t compete, get free labor from your customers.”
What a great concept this could be to have a throwback to past generations when it comes to community activism. I wish there were a way to bring it back. But I do not think it will happen. We have become a mobile country. Families that make communities have since left the local villages to go find their fortune in the big cities.
I see very limited opportunity for this in the U.S., maybe in extreme cases and in small, tightly knit communities with little in the way of store options. But for the same reason service organizations have declined, so too do I think this is not likely to happen here.
The Village Shop has become so deeply woven in the social and historic fabric of Itteringham that its existence defines the community. It is improbable that volunteerism will stem the tide of large supermarket chains here in the US. There are certainly small community coops but they are lifestyle alternatives and not meant to keep large supermarket chains at bay.
A good friend of mine has run a small folk music club in rural Wisconsin and he has sat on the city council a number of times to keep Walmart from opening a location in their community. They’ve been successful so far, but….
There remains an authenticity to owner-operated, local storefronts. I personally believe it’s a piece of Americana that will never be entirely lost. However, independents banding together for a common cause is largely underdeveloped and should be brought into the spotlight.
Not likely, while Americans are some of the most giving people on earth, spending time volunteering at a local grocery store is unlikely going to catch on here.
I do think that there is a growing intention on the part of Americans to try and buy local when and where they can, I don’t believe the majority of consumers are going to sacrifice convenience, assortment and price where (if) that is the trade off in supporting local stores.
Absolutely NO.
There is a world of difference, from a cultural standpoint, between a community of 120 people in rural England, and communities here in the United States.
The spirit of community volunteerism is alive and strong in America, but a business entity should not plan on building a marketing plan around coming together to support the local canteen with free hours.
What a warm, touching retail story…not; the “not” part of it being “not a retail story.” It’s a museum story, or a public service story, or a Dickens’ novel plot line, etc.
While it’s sweet, I guess, that many in the village thought so much of the shop that they were willing to put their labor where their mouth was—as it were—they could have accomplished essentially the same thing if they had simply not patronized the (competing) supermarket. That they weren’t willing to do so—or at least not enough of them were willing to do so—doesn’t offer much hope for this being a sustainable model.
The World Peace Cafes (we have one in Atlanta) are built from donations and run by volunteers. Slightly different concept than this story since World Peace is owned by Kadampa Meditation Center to provide an oasis for people to meditate and rejuvenate. The food is excellent and the place is popular. Just goes to show what can be possible.
Anti-chain attitude seems to be enough where The Village Shop concept may have legs as “The” alternative—we need some hardcore capitalists and BrainsTrusters to go over there, figure out how to operationalize volunteer shops (perhaps we can offer internships as a cheaper alternative to college), tweak the concept and later…The Village Shop – TVS (NASDAQ).
The expiration dates on efforts like this are short. Big flash, but no longevity apart from the initial newspaper article yellowing in the bottom of the bird cage.
This is a cute movement, which has been seen elsewhere, and in which patrons manage an at-risk local store for a short period and then retreat to their previous lives.
On the other hand, I think it’s very cool for neighborhood folks with time on their hands to support a local store which, if it failed and closed, would require those same neighborhood folks to drive for many extra miles to do their shopping.
It’s called a co-op, or cooperative business venture. If the community wants the store to stay, then buy it. It’s like the Green Bay Packers, owned by the community. Only with food, not footballs.
In my local town here north of Los Angeles, I have seen seemingly countless long-term small businesses cease operations. My favorite bicycle store, small hardware store, appliance store, etc. all went out of business, regardless of the local history or even the warm sentiment felt by local citizens. I think few, if any US communities have ever rallied around a failing business and volunteered to help it survive.
Even if we think our towns would support them, reality shows something different, typically. Sadly, the UK example may be an anomaly.
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The US doesn’t really have the sense of history or tradition that the UK does. We are all free market all the time. And that’s a serious shame. I can’t see this scenario happening here.
But on the positive side, what we have seen, and continue to see in the US, is people donating their time to keep large chains out of their town/neighborhood in the first place. Just ask Walmart. Frankly, it’s a shame that an entire country is down to 301 community owned shops.
Personally, I try to buy local as often as I can.
While this may be one of the things that make the British Empire great…wait, that empire is gone! And ideas like this one, while giving me that warm and fuzzy feeling, are unlikely to become very popular, especially outside of villages of 120.
I moved to rural Vermont for the sense of community I could not find in NYC and its suburbs. I could easily see this happening in Vermont, not so much over competition, but over the risk of losing the only (unprofitable) store in 25 miles. If the general store in my town were ever in trouble and faced closing, there’d be a line of volunteers running out the door. People love the store and its owners.
This is more a combination of self-interest and community than it is pure community do-good. But I’ll take it any day.
Will support rise for local businesses? Probably, but only if they are competitive.
Will that support rise to the level of volunteerism? I’d give that less than a 1% chance of happening!
There are a lot of very worthy causes that you can volunteer to help out with. Volunteering to keep a retailer in business isn’t one of them.
Self interest has dictated the volunteerism. Making a profit would require being competitive with actual staff knowing and managing the business—not a drop-in clinic. Great press, odd message “If you can’t compete, get free labor from your customers.”
What a great concept this could be to have a throwback to past generations when it comes to community activism. I wish there were a way to bring it back. But I do not think it will happen. We have become a mobile country. Families that make communities have since left the local villages to go find their fortune in the big cities.
I see very limited opportunity for this in the U.S., maybe in extreme cases and in small, tightly knit communities with little in the way of store options. But for the same reason service organizations have declined, so too do I think this is not likely to happen here.
The Village Shop has become so deeply woven in the social and historic fabric of Itteringham that its existence defines the community. It is improbable that volunteerism will stem the tide of large supermarket chains here in the US. There are certainly small community coops but they are lifestyle alternatives and not meant to keep large supermarket chains at bay.
A good friend of mine has run a small folk music club in rural Wisconsin and he has sat on the city council a number of times to keep Walmart from opening a location in their community. They’ve been successful so far, but….
There remains an authenticity to owner-operated, local storefronts. I personally believe it’s a piece of Americana that will never be entirely lost. However, independents banding together for a common cause is largely underdeveloped and should be brought into the spotlight.
Not likely, while Americans are some of the most giving people on earth, spending time volunteering at a local grocery store is unlikely going to catch on here.
I do think that there is a growing intention on the part of Americans to try and buy local when and where they can, I don’t believe the majority of consumers are going to sacrifice convenience, assortment and price where (if) that is the trade off in supporting local stores.
Absolutely NO.
There is a world of difference, from a cultural standpoint, between a community of 120 people in rural England, and communities here in the United States.
The spirit of community volunteerism is alive and strong in America, but a business entity should not plan on building a marketing plan around coming together to support the local canteen with free hours.
What a warm, touching retail story…not; the “not” part of it being “not a retail story.” It’s a museum story, or a public service story, or a Dickens’ novel plot line, etc.
While it’s sweet, I guess, that many in the village thought so much of the shop that they were willing to put their labor where their mouth was—as it were—they could have accomplished essentially the same thing if they had simply not patronized the (competing) supermarket. That they weren’t willing to do so—or at least not enough of them were willing to do so—doesn’t offer much hope for this being a sustainable model.
The World Peace Cafes (we have one in Atlanta) are built from donations and run by volunteers. Slightly different concept than this story since World Peace is owned by Kadampa Meditation Center to provide an oasis for people to meditate and rejuvenate. The food is excellent and the place is popular. Just goes to show what can be possible.
Anti-chain attitude seems to be enough where The Village Shop concept may have legs as “The” alternative—we need some hardcore capitalists and BrainsTrusters to go over there, figure out how to operationalize volunteer shops (perhaps we can offer internships as a cheaper alternative to college), tweak the concept and later…The Village Shop – TVS (NASDAQ).
The expiration dates on efforts like this are short. Big flash, but no longevity apart from the initial newspaper article yellowing in the bottom of the bird cage.
This is a cute movement, which has been seen elsewhere, and in which patrons manage an at-risk local store for a short period and then retreat to their previous lives.
On the other hand, I think it’s very cool for neighborhood folks with time on their hands to support a local store which, if it failed and closed, would require those same neighborhood folks to drive for many extra miles to do their shopping.
It’s called a co-op, or cooperative business venture. If the community wants the store to stay, then buy it. It’s like the Green Bay Packers, owned by the community. Only with food, not footballs.
In my local town here north of Los Angeles, I have seen seemingly countless long-term small businesses cease operations. My favorite bicycle store, small hardware store, appliance store, etc. all went out of business, regardless of the local history or even the warm sentiment felt by local citizens. I think few, if any US communities have ever rallied around a failing business and volunteered to help it survive.
Even if we think our towns would support them, reality shows something different, typically. Sadly, the UK example may be an anomaly.