Where Everybody Knows Your Name

By Laura Petersen

The BriarPatch Front End Department is a place where you're treated like family.

The minute you walk in through the front doors you can feel the positive vibe. BriarPatch is a friendly place where everyone is welcome. It’s here that owners and regular shoppers are known by name. And it’s exactly that sense of community that keeps folks coming back for more. The 30 people who are the backbone of the fun and hard-working Front End crew have become local fixtures.

“I would describe the Front End as a RAINBOW. We are colorful and happy and we come together to make a beautiful family! We have a lot of fun and enjoy interacting with our customers. We believe in the work we are doing and love working with this community. We have been faced with many challenges over the past year but have been able to stick together and support one another no matter what. BriarPatch is a place that feels like home, so it’s easy to want to stick around for many years,” says Cassidy, Front End Manager.

Meet Some of the Team

Michael, Store Operations Manager

The community, the mission and the people are what keep me coming back and bringing my best self. I want to see cooperative businesses grow. I see the cooperative economy as being more equitable for all people associated with them and in my experience, it is the best that we have to offer the world at this time. The idea of people owning the work they do, being valued, respected and having a voice resonates with who I am.

Michael started working at BriarPatch in 2009. He has been the Store Operations Manager for a year. He loves learning and saying “yes” to life. Whether he’s riding a unicycle, juggling, playing instruments, learning a language or embracing anything athletic, he’s living life to the fullest.

Cassidy, Front End Manager

Cassidy has worked at BriarPatch since 2019. She became the Front End Manager last August.

BriarPatch is a magical place that embodies my passion for food and community! My relationship with food and the systems that support it dramatically changed when I moved to California in 2012. I grew up in Colorado where access to fresh and local food was sparse. I worked on an organic vegetable farm in 2014 and sowed the seeds that would eventually feed thousands of people. To me, that is what BriarPatch is all about: supporting the local food systems and giving back to the community we live in.

Named after a Grateful Dead song pretty much sealed her fate as a Dead Head. A lover of live music, she looks forward to the day when COVID is a thing of the past and she can dance her heart out to her favorite bands.

Rebekah, Assistant Front End Manager

Rebekah has worked at BriarPatch for three years, since moving to Nevada County from Baltimore. Health, wellness and nutrition have always been of keen interest. In her free time she enjoys playing the classical flute. Rebekah is one of three Assistant Front End Managers. She says the people, the staff, the good vibes, the food and the cooperative values are what bring her back day after day, year after year.

I believe businesses like this one — that are community-focused - will make the most difference in the world. If this concept can be spread, I want to be part of it.

Bryan, Assistant Front End Manager

Bryan recently celebrated his four-year work anniversary with BriarPatch. A Nevada County native of 31 years who knows how he likes his cup of coffee (strong French Roast made in a French Press or Light Roast Americano), says his position as Assistant Front End Manager is the best job he’s ever had.

BriarPatch is a place where camaraderie and connection is the norm. It’s great to work in a place that represents my community. It’s a place where I know that I am accepted for who I am. No matter what my beliefs. No matter what, people love me. It’s a different grocery mindset. Priorities are different.

Tyler, Assistant Front End Manager

“Tyler is the third Assistant Front End Manager and began working at BriarPatch two and a half years ago after moving to Nevada County from Petaluma. He can regularly be found ready to lend a helping hand at the Customer Service Desk. A “huge nerd” who plays a lot of video games at home and has built six computers, Tyler says BriarPatch is his social outlet. He says he looks forward to seeing his coworkers every day and enjoys seeing the regular owners and shoppers, like “Shirley,” that he knows by name.

There are people I see weekly that keep me coming back. It’s nice to get to know people and start a relationship that way.

Carin

Carin has been a shining light at BriarPatch for nine years. She was Michael’s first hire when he was Front End Manager. In a normal year (pre- COVID), Carin could be found tree climbing and working the ropes course at a private ranch on Auburn Road, teaching team-building skills to people of all ages. She says it’s the customers and the Co-op community that keep her at the Patch.

There is warmth and love that I find here that beat my expectations in a job.

Marylou

Marylou remembers when she first fell in love with BriarPatch and the Yuba River. She recalls the early days when a rainbow and The Youngbloods “Get Together” song lyrics were painted over the doorway at the Washington Street store in Grass Valley. She became the sixth employee at the small Coop in 1985 where she worked for six years, took a leave of absence for five then returned to stay on another 24! A massage therapist who has dedicated her life to health says that while much has changed at the Patch there remains a heartfelt dedication to organics and the cooperative effort as a sustainable way to co-exist in the world. A sense of community remains strong, too.

There is a really good love vibration that goes on here.

CURBSIDE PICKUP provides safety and convenience during the pandemic

Steve, Curbside Coordinator

Steve is a 10-year veteran of the Patch who continues to seek out new experiences and creative solutions. He worked a variety of odd jobs — from construction to retail — before coming to work in the Front End as lead cashier and later becoming Assistant Front End Manager.

It’s a great job. It’s been great for me personally to build my skillset and support my community. It’s a special place.

Last July Steve became the Curbside Coordinator and loves the challenge of creating the systems and procedures of something new. Since that time he has grown the service to 55 orders a day, from 75 to 150 items per order. Not just for immune-compromised folks anymore, now everyone can enjoy the convenience and safety of Curbside, Monday through Saturday.

People love it. We’ve received so many cards and thank you’s. This is our maiden voyage, our first year. We welcome all ideas and suggestions.