Hey Folks,

Just passing along some info for one of our Member Farms here at the Co-op!

Hey Folks,

As part of the governors mandated orders we are implementing a half hour for folks in the at risk populations (over 60, medical concerns etc) to use the store exclusively. Starting tomorrow the Co-op will be open from 10:00am – 10:30am for the at risk population and then at 10:30am open to the general public. If you are visiting the Co-op please follow the instructions of our cashiers/volunteers. If anyone has any issues or concerns please feel free to reach out to us at (207) 722-3053 or marshriverordering@gmail.com. Thank you very much for your cooperation and everyone please be safe out there!

 

Hey Everyone,

So a few new things going on here at the Co-op. The biggest one is regarding the mandatory restrictions for only having 5 customers in the Co-op at one time. We’ve come up with a system whereby there is a light bulb at the door to let you know if you need to wait before you come in. If the light is on please come on in and do your shopping. If the light is off please wait outside either in your vehicle or in designated spots. The light will go back on when we are below the 5 person threshold. We’d also like to hear from our at risk community what time they would prefer for them to be exclusive for them? Most places are going for the morning but we’ve noticed that more people are out during that time so maybe not the best time?

Also we didn’t receive very many online orders from our first trial so we thought we would open it up for folks to have it available everyday for 5-10 items. If you’d like to place larger orders please do so but it might take us longer to have that ready for you. We are still accepting call in orders at this time but we are trying to keep those to a minimum where we only have the one phone line right now. If you need help or have questions please call (207) 722-3053 or email marshriverordering@gmail.com. We’ve also added a tab to our website which has the direct link for our online ordering system. Thanks to everyone that has put in time and energy to make all these projects happen on almost a daily basis!

Hey Folks,

Well another month is upon us and with everything that’s been going on there are a bunch of new changes in Co-op operations. If you have any questions about these changes please feel free to reach out to us.

With Govenor Mills new stay at home order we have some operational updates. We are classified as essential but based on our square footage we are only allowed to have 5 customers in the store at one time. We are working on a system for the main entrance to alert people when it is ok to come into the Co-op. Please follow the instructions of the staff/volunteers at all times. We will also be locking the rear entrance for the time being so that we can ensure we adhear to the new guidelines. We are also researching what would be the best time for our at risk populations to shop so that we can have an exclusive time for them (feedback welcome). We’d like to continue to keep our doors open to the public, though we aren’t ruling anything out at this point, so that those with cash only or who use EBT/SNAP can still shop (did you know 7% of Americans have no bank at all? Or that EBT/SNAP benefits have to be used in person?)

We also want to let everyone know that we think we are ready to roll out the new curbside pickup program (please see instructions below). It’s probably going to be bumpy for a little bit until we see where we need to make changes to make it more efficient. I want to thank everyone that has offered to volunteer to fill orders after hours!

All orders must be made between 12:00pm – 4:00pm Thursday. Pickup between 10:00am – 4:00pm Friday only.

Please contact the store by telephone (207)722-3053 when you are on your way and we will place your items outside of the loading bay doors (large white double doors to the right of our main entrance)

If we see too high a demand we will let everyone know that we need to shutdown orders for the day in order to catch up. At this time we will be prioritizing members and those who are at high risk. We will attempt to fill all orders but we reserve the right to cancel orders as needed. Items will be picked on a first come first serve basis.

1. Customers can navigate to our new shopify store at:
https://marsh-river-cooperative.myshopify.com/

2. Customers can either browse products by selecting “Catalog” or looking for items using the search bar at the top right corner. At this time we are not guaranting the availablity of any items due to increased demand and lack of availability in the supply chain. We request that you order between 5-15 products only. 

3. Once a customer has added all their items to their shopping cart they can go to “Checkout”. 

4. You will be asked to put in a contact email or telephone number (We prefer email whenever possible) along with shipping information. This is more for the billing information later and all items will be picked up curbside at the Co-op.

5. Then Select “Continue to Shipping”

6. Then Select “Continue to Payment”

7. Customers will enter their payment information as well as place a check mark that their billing info is he same as their shipping info.

8. Then select “Place Order”

9. Customers will receive a confirmation number and email for their order. Please be advised your credit card will not be charged until your order has been filled so your final total may be different if we have out of stocks. We will also be adjusting sales tax on the back end as well so your total may be slightly different.

Hey Folks,

In the never ending battle we seem to be in for the last few weeks we have been working double time to try and come up with programs which will help limit staff/volunteer risks as well as risks for our members/customers.  We have recently been awarded rapid response grant funds from the New England Grassroots Environment Fund  which means we were able to purchase some new equipment to increase the distance between our cashiers/volunteers and the public(the scale was a donation from Belfast Coop). It also allowed us to purchase a new contactless card reader so folks are able to pay without touching a keypad at all now (Works with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay and most NFC Cards, Bangor Savings Bank has them available and a few other banks as well). We will be redirecting folks to the new system starting today. We will still be accepting cash, check and EBT from those that do not have the option of card payment and the other checkout area.

With the funds we have also been able to order some items for sanitation and to increase our public WIFI access for folks as well.

Thank you to everyone that has offered to volunteer and to those folks who have put in extra time putting up signage and helping coordinate all the projects!