Why is the board proposing to relocate New Pioneer’s Iowa City location?
New Pi is a successful and growing organization with space and facility needs that exceed the capacity of the current Iowa City store. Despite a lagging economy, membership and sales at New Pi continue to grow. Last fiscal year, New Pioneer added 2,164 new Co-op members—and this year the Co-op’s membership base is on track to grow by a similar amount. Average annual sales for the supermarket industry are $300-$600 per square foot. The figure for the Iowa City New Pi store is substantially higher. While on the face of it higher sales intensity appears to be a positive, it also is indicative of a facility where capacity is significantly stretched and there is limited room for additional growth. It also represents the incredible effort of our employees who work their tails off to keep the store shelves stocked in less than ideal conditions. While our space constraints may be visible to you only during peak shopping hours, when aisles are crowded, check-out lines are backed up, or products
