This month the Co-Op is celebrating its 45th anniversary! We’ve come a long way since our pre-store roots as a buying club operating out of the basement of Mary Hobbs dorm at Guilford College. Over the years we have faced a series of financial crises – 4 in all. The first was in 1982, then in 1991, again in 2001, and lastly in recent years. In each case we managed to pull through and come out stronger on the other end of it. Our dedicated Owners and customers have been essential to this process. And now we’ve done it again. Deep Roots’ financial picture was grim in recent years, but has experienced a remarkable turnaround the past year. Significantly, we have now started the process of repaying the Owners who lent money to the Co-Op in 2011 for the relocation to our current beautiful store. We are behind schedule in paying back these loans, and are grateful to finally be able to get the paybacks going. It will be a slow process as we pay back one loan at a time as funds are available. But the first one is on the books! As pictured below, GM Nicole Villano visited Co-Op Owner Gay Cheney last week to personally hand Gay the first payback check. It was a happy occasion!

Our Annual Owners Meeting is coming soon – Saturday May 1 at 11 am. It will be on Zoom again this year. Please mark your calendar to attend and hear about the state of your Co-Op. 2020 was a momentous year, and 2021 is full of initiatives you’ll appreciate hearing about. There will also be plenty of time for your questions and comments. Participate in your Co-Op’s governance!

Last of all, our GM and her staff have done a tremendous job this past year. It’s not easy working in a pandemic environment, but they’ve done a great job hanging in there and making the store better and better. Please express your appreciation when you visit.

Cooperatively yours,

Joel Landau

President, Board of Directors