Maple City Market is a consumer-owned cooperative grocery store.
A co-op is a business owned by the members in the community that works for the benefit of its owner-members. It is overseen by a member-elected Board of Directors, and day-to-day operations are run by a General Manager and Staff. We operate under the Seven Principles of Co-operation:
- Voluntary and open membership
- Democratic member control
- Members economic participation
- Autonomy and independence
- Education, training, and information
- Cooperation among Co-ops
- Concern for community
Maple City market has been a member of the Goshen business community since the 1970’s. We are owned and staffed by members of the community. Our main focus is locally produced and/or organic (and delicious) food, and we work hard to make sure that we are making our owner-members happy. When you shop at Maple City Market, you are supporting our community!
Maple City Market Ends Statement
Ends articulate the results for which our organization exists, the recipients or beneficiaries of those results and the worth of the results. Our current Ends were authored by the Board of Directors in September of 2017.
Because of MCM, there will be a healthy community nourished and educated by:
1. EQUITABLE economic practices
2. REGENERATIVE environmental impacts
3. INCLUSIVE, socially responsible relationships
Maple City Market’s owners are represented by an elected board of directors who operate under the guidance of “policy governance.” This form of guidance is defined by its Ends statements. Careful designation of that overarching purpose in terms of effects on the world, who receives the effects, and the value of the effects is Ends.
The board of directors for Maple City Market defines the purpose for which the co-op operates and within the guidelines of the co-op being profitable, a source for sustainable locally grown healthy food and a supportive community partner open to everyone. Thus, the Ends concept imparts a real-world focus for organizational effort and optimum empowerment of management, while enabling the board’s withdrawal from daily “how to” questions which are best answered by the General Manager and the Market’s staff.
Our co-op’s current Ends statements evolved out of a previous set of Ends statements originally developed in 2010. The original Ends highlighted three areas of impact: Commerce, Planet, and People. In 2017, The Board of Directors reviewed and revised Co-op’s Ends Statements, taking input from co-op management, a group of member-owners, and utilizing a governance consultant from CDS Consulting Co-op. In the latest revision of the Ends, the Board simplified the statements but retained the spirit of the earlier version.
Ends statements are, in effect, policy that informs the co-op’s highest-level decision-making. Do our Co-op’s actions help achieve these Ends and if so, how? The general manager reports to the board annually on the co-op’s progress toward meeting its Ends.
Maple City Market Historic Timeline:
- Early 70’s- Goshen College students and faculty form a buying club.
- 1976- Buying club moves into an old car garage & the first paid staff person was hired.
- 1981- Became incorporated under the name “Centre-In Food Co-op.”
- 1981- Moved to a new space at 206 Lincoln Ave.
- 1989- Financial and managerial issues led to the creation of the Board of Directors and co-op by-laws.
- 1996- Centre-In purchased and moved into the current building at 314 S. Main St.
- 1997- Financial crisis led to the need for member loans and equity to pay down accounts and stabilize finances.
- 1999-2001- Some growth and improvements began: new grocery shelves, refrigerator and freezer units, new roof, and new bulk bins.
- Fall 2001- Name was changed to Maple City Market.