Information for Applicants
Thank you for your interest in applying for the Co-owner position at Other Avenues. Please carefully read the full job description available at this link.
We opened in 1974 as a small neighborhood store, run and supported by community members dedicated to providing an alternative to corporate grocery stores. We are now a collectively run, worker-owned and managed natural foods cooperative. Throughout our forty-five year history, we have remained committed to organics, healthy food, environmental sustainability, worker-ownership, and true community involvement.
Our worker-owners share in all work. Out of a core schedule of 30+ hours per week, responsibilities include providing excellent customer service, cashiering, being on your feet for long stretches, repetitive lifting of up to 50lbs, working in cold environments, purchasing, and all other aspects of running a small business. We are looking for someone interested in organic foods, consensus-based decision-making, egalitarian workplaces, and the chance to be involved in a thriving, socially responsible neighborhood business.
Applicant probation period: The decision on membership is generally made after a six-month period during which the applicant and Other Avenues decide on their mutual fit. Prospective members will be expected to function like worker-owners during their probation.
Starting pay is $19.50 per hour (after successfully passing the evaluation period, pay increases to $21.00), with fully covered medical, vision, and dental coverage beginning at two months. We also offer a work-shoe reimbursement program and a supplemental wellness benefit. Workers get covered by renter’s, life, and longterm disability insurance as applicable. Worker-owners can take up to 6 weeks of vacation per year. A small buy-in is due at the end of the six-month applicant evaluation period. Members also share a portion of the surplus earnings at the end of the year, although all compensation depends on the income generated by the business.
As members of a cooperative we are not just workers and partners, but committed to mutual support of one another and other cooperatives, to quality natural foods, and to providing excellent service to the community. Members generally have interests and ideally experience including the following:
- natural foods and health
- groups that operate cooperatively
- work that is often physically demanding
- responsibility of helping run and own a business for the welfare of co-workers and the community