COVID-19: We're Here To Help

One of our brand values is to work and live with a Positive Spirit of Action. This value has really been brought to life and is central to our decision-making process for the challenges created by the COVID-19 crisis. We have worked to lean into its meaning as we’ve taken proactive steps to care for our staff, serve our community, and support our local vendors.

We made quick and decisive operational changes early in the pandemic. We were the first grocer in the Treasure Valley to offer a shopping hour exclusively for at-risk populations. If you are immuno-compromised, pregnant, or a member of our amazing 60+ community, we’ve created a special time for you to shop seven days a week from 8-9 am at the Village store and 7-8 am at the North End store.  

We also shortened our business hours, to allow staff time and distance to restock our shelves and deep-clean our store daily.

We installed plexiglass to make our checkout process safer for both employees and customers and provided masks for employees to wear. We have also encouraged our customers to wear masks according to CDC guidelines and have been heartened to see so many who are following this safety measure.

We are supporting our staff and acknowledging the personal risk they are taking by coming to work. While we strive to keep our stores as clean as possible for the safety of both customers and staff alike, we understand the personal sacrifice our staff is making to work on the frontlines during a pandemic. Our store employees are true heroes in our eyes—and we want to show them that as demonstrably as we can. In this spirit, we paid all of our frontline store workers an extra $2/hour throughout the months of April and May and are enhancing our long-term benefits package to show our thanks for their contribution to our community during this time.

We doubled down on our support of local business. We took our monthly one-day local sale and extended it to the entire month of April, offering 10% off local food, drinks, and other products. We also added new local vendors like Weiser River Ranch, Picabo Desert Farm, and Push & Pour Coffee to name a few.  We care deeply about keeping our local businesses IN BUSINESS; these companies are the heart and soul of our local living economy and a big part of what makes the Co-op’s product selection truly special.

We are offering more shopping options to meet our customer’s comfort levels. We know not all customers are comfortable with shopping in-store right now—and we understand that. We quickly enacted an online shopping and curbside grocery pickup option that we tested with Co-Owners for a trial month. The response to this was very favorable and we rolled it out to all our customers in May.

We are working overtime to keep our community fed and working. Our CEO, Michelle Andersen, is the president-elect of City of Good’s board—a new, nonprofit collective action network created by Boise businesses and civic organizations in response to the COVID pandemic. The City of Good’s near-term goals are feeding those who are isolated or in need in our community and putting people back to work. City of Good is currently making and delivering meals free-of-charge to those in the community who need them most. All meals are prepared using quality ingredients, sourced from local farms whenever possible, and made by local restaurants, including the Boise Co-op deli. It’s right in our sweet spot—putting people back to work, at livable wages, making nutritious meals for those in our community who need them. You can learn more about City of Good here.

As a community hub, we are thankful for your support and kindness now and always. If there is anything we can do to better serve you, please let us know. We are here for you.