Why Become A Member?
A CreekSide membership isn't at all like a membership at a health club or at a warehouse store. Everyone is welcome to shop at our store and enjoy the variety of products we offer, from local produce and pastured beef to chef-prepared delicacies and a full range of grocery items. A membership in CreekSide makes you a full legal partner in this fantastic community endeavor in addition to giving you a host of benefits that will save you money and give you as active a role in your co-op as you want.
Become a member right now to enjoy these benefits:
Ownership:
- A vote in your Co-op
- Volunteer opportunities (volunteer in store, serve on a committee or run for the board of directors)
- Patronage Dividends (dependent on profitability)
- Member Loan Program (Invest in your Co-op at an excellent interest rate)
Savings:
- Member-only in-store specials
- Monthly Member Appreciation Days (Special choose your own day in August)
- Discount on special ordered cases
- Discount on volume purchases
- Discounts at area businesses
Services:
- Home Delivery (to be available shortly after opening)
- Personal check cashing
- Members only classes and events
- Annual purchase report
Community:
- Help Build Your Local Neighborhood Grocery
- Revitalize Elkins Park East
- Increase the Local Tax Base
- Create a Community Gathering Space
- Keep funds within our Community*
So, Is It Worth It?
Of course! We believe that investing in your community and owning your market have great value on their own. Plus this is your member equity - not a "fee" - and so, subject to available cash, it is refundable, so why not?
However, even beyond that, most member households are likely to get over $50 of value every year just from shopping in the store. In addition to several member-only specials every day in the store, monthly "member appreciation" days will offer a 5% discount on your entire order. If you shop on the member appreciation day each month and spend $100 on each trip, that alone is a $60 annual savings.
*Buying locally or directly from farmers can dramatically increase a farmer's income. The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardener's Association published a study that demonstrates what would happen if consumers shifted 1% of their purchasing power to buy locally grown products: farmers would see a gain of 5% in their income.7 Even better, buying direct from a farmer sends 90% of those food dollars back to the farm.8 Increasing farm income means more money can be spent locally by the farmer to run their business and home, helping keep the local economy alive.
Annually, Americans consume more than $600 billion9 in food. In most communities today food is purchased entirely at a grocery store or market, with only about 7% of local food dollars staying in the community.10 The other 93% of the modern food dollar travels to pay processors, packagers, distributors, wholesalers, truckers and the rest of the infrastructure that a global food system demands, a stark comparison to 40% in 1910 by contrast, 40% of food dollars spend remained in the local economy.11 When more food dollars stay in the community, through buying local, they are transformed into thriving main streets and local jobs.