November 16, 2011 Rainbow Natural Grocery Board Meeting Minutes

Charlotte Lundemo took minutes for the meeting. The meeting started at 6:10pm

Board Members present: Gen Barbour, Tom Lowe, John Goodman, Charlotte Lundemo, Scotta Brady, Todd Goode and Leo Huddleston. Also present were Steve Whitlow, Bruce Frazier, Luke Lundemo and daniel johnson.

The Board minutes from October 18, 2011 were approved as amended. The minutes for the Annual Shareholder meeting were approved as amended.

Steve Whitlow’s Report: The loan to buy the building was approved and the purchase was completed. October sales went up slightly over September. This was the best October we’ve ever had. Grocery sales were up but the Café sales were down 13% from last year. We have a new sous chef, Chad Draper. While overall payroll came down, the café payroll remained high. We have a new maintenance contract with a new electrical company to keep our refrigeration units working. Cold goods, bulk, dry goods and HABA sales were steady. Produce and groceries sales were lagging. Memberships are close to 5,500 which is a 1% increase since September.

John Goodman’s Report: Everything is looking good. Cash flow is up, inventory is down. We had a profit of $36,000 so far this fiscal year which brings us to the 38% tax bracket. For tax purposes we need a breakout of land appraised value from the building appraised value. The balance sheet is good.

 Luke’s Report: Hope Credit Union who gave us the load to buy the building is working on an incentive plan to get members to join the credit union. A building inspector, Jimmy Breazelle, was studying the building to come up with an insurance rating. He wrote us up for florescent bulbs being stored too close to the power circuit box. He also noted we need to clean filters above the stove every 3 months. (We later learned this is done monthly). We also have to check fire extinguishers every 6 months. The café has come up with a list of suggestions to help improve sales. On November 29 Tuesday evening, there will be a meeting for Friends of High Noon. It was suggested by a board member that High Noon needs other sources of protein than soy. FAB (Fondren Association of Businesses) wants to present a BID (Business Improvement District) to area property owners. They would be accessed a fee to go into a fund to help the business district. daniel johnson was in the process of being hired by Rainbow for Community Building. To decide on a date for the Rainbow Board Retreat, it was suggested to put choices on doodle.com. We also need a survey of topics for the retreat. We are still planning a plant based diet promotion for January. We need to recruit people to help.

The meeting adjourned at 7:10pm.