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Acorn takes a pause

Despite incredible support from the community, the Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café will be taking a pause in its operations as of close of business on Saturday, November 12.

by Marsha Chartrand

On Wednesday evening, the Acorn Farmers’ Market & Café board of directors met and made a difficult decision.

“We’re taking a pause as of close of business on Saturday, November 12,“ explained board member Ginny Johnson. “We’ll take some time to re-evaluate and during that time we will try to determine what does the community want and what options we have as we look toward the future.“

Currently, Johnson explained, the store is making enough to meet its payroll, but there are other considerations that made the board realize they can’t continue down the same path. Since the store was conceived a little over three years ago, much has changed in the community. At that time, Manchester was on the edge of being considered a “food desert.” Now there are multiple options! There has been the stress of inflation on vendors, staff, and other expenses that are incurred in doing business. The concept of the store has changed significantly since its inception. And, of course, during most of that time, there has been an ongoing, worldwide pandemic.

“It been a cascade of events,” Johnson concluded. “Where do we go from here?“

Dana Turner-Queen, who has been acting as Store Manager for the past few weeks since the departure of Mark Spina, is developing a survey to distribute to the community via several different avenues that will help the board determine a path to follow as it decides how to weather this current storm — whether it restructuring or another alternative.

“We’ve all put in a really strong effort over the past three years,“ said Board Chair Theresa Herron. “It just isn’t working right now and we can’t find the magic sauce. Each time we think we’ve turned a corner, it doesn’t quite end up happening the way we thought.

“The community stood behind us,“ she continued, “donated an incredible amount of money at a time when we didn’t think it could possibly happen, and it did. People wonder where the money went. It went into the pockets of employees and vendors … right back into our local community. We spent almost no money on advertising; none of our board made a penny — in fact, every one of our board members donated more than $1,000, some much more, and they all put in an incredible amount of hours of volunteer time to make things work.

“We do still have assets, but we need to figure out how can we continue to use it. We just aren’t sure of anything at this point.“

Herron said there is another part of the story she wants to tell about Acorn, when all is said and done: “When we started this process, there was no grocery store, no produce. In the process of us doing what we did, we partnered with Manchester Market. Originally they were only going to have a few retail items for sale and this site was basically going to be a feeder site for their restaurants. They pivoted, too, because of Acorn. Now we have a beautiful full-service store in our community. So even if we didn’t succeed in our original venture, we have made a substantial change in the community.

“I wish it had turned out differently, but I feel comfortable, satisfied, that we made a big difference even if we haven’t made the original idea work yet. It has been a net gain for Manchester.“

Herron also added that Acorn has received great support from Ken Heers of Super Perky Pantry and Justin Dalenberg from Grand River Brewery. “They have tried to help us succeed,“ she said. “They have been great to work with. It just that in Manchester we have a different level of support than in larger communities like Chelsea or Ann Arbor (where Agricole and Argus markets, which successfully operate on the same model, are located.)“

Some customers have noted that prices are higher at Acorn (and this applies to complaints about prices at the Manchester Market as well), but it is true that prices are higher everywhere. And a casual price comparison at stores shows that you can travel a distance to save a few pennies, or you can stay local and invest in your own community.

“You can get things cheaper, but you still pay a price,“ said Herron. “You make your choice. There is a value in knowing the chicken you just bought came from five miles down the road and didn’t live its life in a box piled on top of another chicken box. It a matter of choices.“

Johnson added that as a newer board member she hadn’t been aware of how much blood, sweat, and tears had been going into the operations of Acorn over the past year. “It such a labor of love,“ she said. “So many in the community have supported us. We’re all Manchester people, working together to address a need. But things change. So maybe our original mission doesn’t apply as much as it once did. What does Manchester need now? Hopefully, the survey will start to address that and we can work on making something new happen.“

“Everything is still a big question mark,“ Herron concluded. “Some programs may still go on. What would people like to see, what do they want us to do next, what should our next path be?

“One thing I’ve learned,“ she concluded, “is that you don’t have to do something forever for it to be valuable. Maybe we’ll just leave a legacy. And that will be OK.“

by Marsha Chartrand

Marsha Johnson Chartrand, a founder, writer, and copy editor with the Manchester Mirror, is a 50-year resident of Manchester. She has a long history of volunteer and community involvement.