Hello Spoonful readers! My name is Román Diaz, the new General Manager at the Common Market. Before we get into the updates that matter most to you, I want to quickly express how happy I am to be a part of this community and how excited I am for the future of the co-op. Starting a new job can be nerve-wracking at any organization, throw in a global pandemic and assimilating to a new environment can be exponentially more difficult. However, the team, the Board, and the community here have made me feel so welcomed that I sometimes forget that I’m wearing a mask and trying to keep my physical distance from others as much as possible all day. This has been the best onboarding experience I’ve had in my over 20 years in the industry so from the bottom of my heart, Thank You to everyone that has made this process so seamless. OK, onto something that you really want to hear about – the 7th Street location. As most of you are aware, we are opening our second store after being in business for 46 years! A HUGE thanks to our employees, members, customers, community and vendors for all your continued support! As of August 24th, we are on track to open mid-September. The new store will be a local jewel, bringing over 70 new jobs to the area. Built to be more environmentally friendly with a wider variety of products, we will continue
to push local and organic products that serve to benefit your health and the community. Some features worth highlighting: A brand new café with a revised menu; wider variety of local meats and produce; expanded wellness, grocery, dairy, and frozen departments, and a pet section to rival the best pet shops in the area. We, of course, will continue to provide the same great customer service you are accustomed to – just because we’re getting bigger doesn’t mean we’re losing our core values! Since our beginnings in 1974 our focus has been on supporting our local community, and in today’s new reality, that initiative is more relevant than ever. The best way to bring back the economy is to support local. That is why, in addition to stocking local products we worked with our local Woodsboro Bank and used mostly local contractors to build the new store; Bates Architects, City of Frederick Economic Development, D Impression Signs, Eco Developers, Graphcom, Miles & Stockbridge, Warner Commercial, Waynesboro Construction and Xecunet. And we are so proud of all of them for the amazing job they have done and continue to do. Some love for the Route 85 Store: While a lot of the attention in the press and in the community has been on opening the new store, I do want to make sure everyone knows that our Route 85 location, which you all have known and loved for all these years will continue to provide the community fresh, local and organic products with the same great customer service that has helped us become Frederick’s go-to for local. I look forward to all that we will accomplish in the near and long-term future.
Román Diaz, General Manager
Editor - Pamela Francis | Design & Layout - Kayleigh Montgomery-Morris, Morganne Klein Ad Sales & Owner Services - Michael Brown | Classes & Education - Libby Nuss | Contributors - foodnetwork.com, food.com, The Every Kitchen, Country Living, Contact marketing@commonmarket.coop with contributions. Contact mbrown@commonmarket.coop for advertising rates. The opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Board, management, staff, or consumer-owners of the Common Market. Nutrition and health information are given for informational purposes only and are not meant as a substitute for a consultation with a licensed health or dietary practitioner.