Co-op Community | July 2016
Refrigeration Crisis Resolved within Record 24 Hours
Early Thursday morning before a busy Memorial Day holiday weekend, our Eureka store experienced a massive refrigeration failure. The pressure sensor malfunctioned and over-pressurized the system. As a result, the entire refrigeration and freezer system throughout the store had to be shut down.
Our amazing staff reacted very quickly, and all affected product was moved to off-site storage for preservation. Unfortunately, many of our perishable items would not last throughout the repair and recovery process. Fortunately, our local food bank Food for People was ready and able to distribute these fine products throughout the community and into the hands of those who needed them most.
“We received a total of 7,595 pounds of food from the Co-op. All wonderful foods that we never receive enough of through regular donations,” said Anne Holcomb, Executive Director of Food for People. “We are sorry the Co-op had to deal with such a major disruption in business, but grateful for the food!”
Initially, we anticipated being without refrigeration in our Eureka store for two to four days, which would have been a huge inconvenience for shoppers stocking up for Memorial Day—and Kinetic Sculpture Race—weekend and a significant loss in sales. However, our Maintenance team had the issue resolved and the refrigeration running within 24 hours! Our staff worked cooperatively and diligently to get coolers and freezers restocked as quickly as possible.
Many members of our staff from both stores worked long and hard onsite and behind the scenes getting our refrigeration backup to full capacity. The Eureka staff was able to maintain an optimum level of customer service throughout the incident. We are very appreciative of the team effort! Crises are never fun, but the sense of celebration in the store after working so hard to get everything back in order was palpable.
We thank our member-owners and shoppers for their patience and continued patronage during this time!
