Durham Central Market

Join us for DCM's 4th Annual Family Farm Day on Sunday April 7th, from 2-8, at Elodie Farms in nearby Rougemont.  The event will include live music, including some time for Open Mic, so bring your instruments and join in the fun.  Pie Pushers and Only Burger will be there, along with Fullsteam Brewery, Loco-Pops & local baked goods, farm tours (w/Baby Goats!!), kids activities (Poetry Fox!!), and a bonfire.  Admission is $10/adults, $5/kids ages 3-21, and FREE for under 3 years.  It's always a great time, in a beautiful setting.  No better way to spend a spring afternoon!  Hope to see you there.
Directions to the Farm (from I-85):
Exit 176B Duke St / US-501 N. toward Roxboro
Stay straight on US-501 N/N Duke St. (9.3 mi)
Turn Right onto Bahama Rd. 
Go 4.2 miles - You will cross over Lake Michie
Turn Right onto Hall Rd. (1.4 miles)
End at 9522 Hampton Road; Elodie Farms is across the street from the stop sign.

We are excited to report our progress towards the opening of Durham Central Market!  We have a location, plans for ground-breaking and are projecting an opening date! 
 
Durham will have a co-operative grocery store again!
 
At our annual meeting in November, we let you know about the possibility of a partnership with Self-Help Ventures.  In line with the City of Durham’s long-term plans for revitalizing the historic area around the West Chapel Hill Street corridor, SHV is seeking to develop the corner of Kent and West Chapel Hill Streets with an office building (whose first floor could in time become retail space), with ample parking, green space, and a 10,000 square foot building for lease to Durham Central Market.  With the approval of our owners, we followed through on our explorations, and are happy to report that we have recently signed the Letter of Intent to occupy this space!
 
This is not the marriage, but the engagement announcement.  The Letter of Intent spells out the general terms of the proposed long-term lease. We hired Dakota Worldwide to study the site and give us sales projections, and our financial projections indicate that with the support offered by SHV, the site should be successful.   
 
The agreement will place our new store in a prominent location, less than half of a mile from the Chapel Hill Street exit of the Durham Freeway, an artery that many use for their daily commute.  Situated right at a bus stop, convenient to downtown Durham and Duke, and nearby to neighborhoods such as West End, Burch Avenue, Lakewood, Morehead Hill, Duke Forest and Forest Hills, we believe it will serve our vision—to contribute to the development of Durham’s community—in ways we did not originally envision.  For example, the new site is almost contiguous to the Pauli Murray historic area, and right down the street from The Cookery, the location of our predecessor co-operative.  While many of us continue to be disappointed we have not been able to build an initial store in North Central Durham, we are positively excited about the possibilities offered by this location, and by our partnership with SHV. 
 
We will need your help to get from here to our opening. SHV will contribute significantly to the cost of developing the store, and we have over $400 thousand in the bank, invested by our owners. We will need to raise additional funds from a number of sources, including another $700 thousand from our community. This is an investment in our community that yields a triple bottom line. The dividends are economic, ecological and social. You can help make it happen by sharing this vision with your neighbors and participating in DCM community investment efforts.
 
 
Here is what we are asking of current owners:
 

• Read our monthly newsletters.  We will keep you abreast of our progress, events and ideas.
• Attend events we sponsor.  This is a great way to meet the Board and participate in the network of friends centered around a dedication to having healthy food available to all people, with an emphasis on local farmers and products.
• Volunteer to help with events. These are food and friend-centered events, and as a volunteer you have even more fun.  There are a number of events coming up, including the 4th Annual Family Farm Day at Elodie Farms on April 7th.  You can register your general interest in serving as a volunteer or respond to specific opportunities by writing to Judy Stafford at volunteer@durhamcentralmarket.org
• Consider becoming a Board member.  We currently have three vacancies.  We are particularly interested in people who can bring their retail, farming, marketing, financial and/or legal experience to our Board.
• Tell your friends about it!  We have a regular table at the Durham Farmer’s Market where folks can stop by, chat, and become members.  The forms are also available on-line at our website.
• Place some of your investments into Durham Central Market’s preferred stock.  An investment in local food and employment in your own town is one of the best long term investments you can make.
• Come to the special owners meeting we will schedule in early May.

 
Finally, we thank you, Durham Central Market Owners, one and all, for being part of this venture.  As owners in a food co-operative, your voice and thoughts matter.  We look forward to hearing from you!
 
Best regards,
 
The Board of Directors
Durham Central Market

 
Preliminary rendering of potential Durham Central Market store viewed from W. Chapel Hill St.  Courtesy of DTW Architects and Planners, Ltd.
 

DCM's annual Owners Meeting was held on Nov. 4th, 2012.  As in previous meetings, we began the meeting  with the fellowship of a potluck dinner. Following dinner there was a round of hearty appreciations for all of the people who volunteer their time to support their co-op. People staff the Farmers Market booth, plan events, work on committees, serve on the board!

Don Moffitt, our Project Manager, gave a presentation on the year just concluded. He began with last year’s annual meeting, when owners gave their feedback to the board about which attributes for a store were most important. He showed maps and photos of all of the sites the board has looked at over the past year, and repeated what we already know—that financing a store is the major problem, requiring either an angel to guarantee a loan or a developer willing to advance development funds in return for higher rent.

This led to a discussion of a site on West Chapel Hill Street that Self-Help is developing. They want Durham Central Market in the project, along with 35,000 square feet of office space. Tucker Bartlett, Vice President of Operations, was there to talk about why Self-Help sees the site a good fit. During a question and answer period, one owner pointed out that the Durham Food Co-op struggled in a nearby location, and asked what would be different. The answer was lots of parking, full capitalization, larger format, more complete product selection and a new building in a new project.

The meeting then turned to the election of members of the board. Drew Peng, the current treasurer, was elected to a new two year term, and Melissa Mills was elected to her first term. Congratulations to both—and thanks for your willingness to invest your time and energy in Durham Central Market!

At our Annual Meeting on November 4th, we will hold elections for two seats on the board.  We have two fine candidates running for those seats - Drew Peng, who has been serving in an appointed capacity on the Board and is chair of the Finance and Development Committee, and Melissa Miller.  You can learn more about these two candidates here. 

The Emily K Center and The Cookery are joining forces this Saturday, October 6 from 5-8pm to sponsor a Food Truck Round-Up and Fall Concert. Tour the Center, eat some great food while listening to great music, and shoot hoops in the Final Four gym. 

More info at http://durhamcookery.com/latest-news

 
Elections Committee
The committee manages the elections that are held each year at the Annual Meeting within the policy guidelines. If you’re interested in lending a hand, contact Shelley Beason at shelley@durhamcentralmarket.org. This is a limited duration activity!
 

Join DCM at the Co-op-A-Fair at American Tobacco Campus (318 Blackwell between ATC and DPAC) this Saturday from 11am-3pm for a fun day celebrating community with some of your favorite local cooperatives. Cheesemaking, childrens activities and good prize give-aways! Win a bicycle, something special from REI, or one of our cool Tshirts.  http://www.facebook.com/events/381691745196487/

DCM enjoyed another successful Family Farm Day at Elodie Farms last Sunday!  Thanks to Dave Artigues for hosting the event, to Pie Pushers, Only Burger, and Fullsteam for the delicious food and drink, to 360 the Band and Actual Persons Living or Dead for the rockin music, and to Dan Squires for capturing the day in photos (see more photos here).  Thanks also to our wonderful volunteers who made it all happen - Dan Singer, Deb Hawkins, Sandi Gray-Terry, Steph Grant, Don and Isabel Moffit, Pam Campa, Shelley Beason, Drew Peng, Michael Bacon, Heather Tunnell, and Beth Fowler.  

 
For the 3rd year, we are thrilled to be holding the DCM Family Farm Day at Elodie Farms, hosted by Dave Artigues.  Many of you will know Dave from the Durham Farmers Market.  Elodie Farms is a 21-acre farm owned and operated by Dave. Started in 2003, Dave built the dairy by converting a tobacco packing house into a cheese kitchen and milking room. Part of the fun of Family Farm Day is taking the tour with Dave as he explains how the operation works.
 
In addition to the farm tours & cheese tasting, this year we'll also be featuring live music from Trepak, 360 the Band, and Actual Persons Living or Dead.  Fullsteam will be selling beer, and Pie Pushers and Only Burger will be selling delicious food.  Locopops and baked goods will also be available.  There will be activities for the kids and a bonfire late in the day.  It's always lots of fun in a beautiful and relaxing setting, and no place better to spend a spring afternoon.
 
Prices are $10 (21+), $5 (under 21), FREE (3 years and under)
 
Directions to the Farm   From I-85

1. Exit 176B DUKE ST / US-501 N  toward ROXBORO.
2. Stay STRAIGHT on US-501 N / N DUKE ST for 9.3 miles
3. Turn RIGHT onto BAHAMA RD. for 4.2 miles. You will cross over Lake Michie.
4. Turn RIGHT onto HALL RD. for 1.4 miles
5. End at 9522 Hampton Rd.   Elodie Farms is across the street from the stop sign.

This event is for everyone, not just owners, so bring a picnic, your family, and your friends.  Everyone's invited!  We hope you'll join us.