Letters to the editor, April 2002

Member benefits questioned

I was quite disappointed to see that our two $1 discount coupons per month have been eliminated. Of your “$10 worth of coupons,” many are for processed, expensive foods. I have one coupon for 50¢ that I might use this month. The rest are useless to me.

Why make us clip coupons (printed on expensive paper instead of newsprint) and limit them to particular items? If you want to give us a benefit, just give it as you used to do, rather than linking it to limited purchase choices. Isn’t it easier for those discounts of individual items to be handled at the register using our cards (like you used to do) instead of wasting so much paper and time?

The Member Appreciation Days will be nice. Thank you for doing that. But please get rid of the coupon page and bring back the $1-on-anything coupons.
— Margaret Bradford

Laurie Lombard, PCC Director of Marketing, replies:
Dear Ms. Bradford,
Many of our members use coupons and have requested that we offer them as benefits. The member-only coupons are procured from the top 50 to 100 grocery and health items in the stores. They are vendor-supported and allow us to provide more savings every month, albeit product-specific. We have heard from many of our members that they choose to buy only whole, unprocessed foods. Therefore, beginning in April, we are adding a $1 coupon good on any $10 purchase in our stores.

PCC has worked very hard to develop this program by researching other food co-ops and talking with PCC members and our staff. We are proud of the benefits package and feel it delivers a financial value — both in the store and in the community — to the majority of our members. It is also a package that PCC can afford to give its members. With that said, we also would like you to know that this plan is not set in stone. We appreciate your suggestions as they help us know more about what our members would like. We intend to review and strengthen the benefit plan over the next few months.
Sincerely,
Laurie Lombard