Dear Members,
 
As we continue with our efforts to communicate with you on a regular basis, here is the latest on what the managers and Board are currently working on:
 
 
Online Sales
 
We issued an invitation earlier for members who have their own online stores to get in touch with us so that we can promote you on the Circle Craft website. Many of you responded and the new Shop Members page is now up with twenty-four of our members listed. Please take a look:


We will continue to accept information from members with online businesses (a store, digital classes, workshops, etc) on an ongoing basis. You can enter your details here at anytime:


For those of you who do have online stores, we would like to point out the value of offering regular promotions, like special discounts or free shipping. These sorts of promotions really do help drive traffic to your store, especially now with increased online competition.
 
 
Store Staff
 
As we’ve let you know earlier, we’ve been able to keep all of our store staff on for now, and we’re finding that this is an excellent opportunity for them to be tackling some of the tasks that are hard to get done when everyone is busy making sales in the store. Two projects that are being undertaken now:
 
  • Member Check-in. Over the next few weeks, store staff will be making phone calls to all Co-op members to see how you’re doing, to check that your member profile is up to date and to make sure that you’re aware of assistance programmes and any online sales opportunities.
 
  • Staff Training. It has been one of Cathy’s long-term goals to move all the store inventory and sales software to Shopify, and now is the perfect time to provide Shopify training for store staff. The opportunity for this training has been enthusiastically welcomed by the staff.
 
 
Expenses
 
Our managers have been carefully going through all of the Co-op’s expenses, trimming wherever possible. We’re happy to say that we will be able to take advantage of BC Hydro’s COVID-19 rate relief programme. For at least the next three months, our hydro fees will be waived, saving the Co-op about $900.  
 
One of our biggest costs, of course, is rent on our Granville Island store. Our landlord, CMHC, has offered GI merchants rent deferrals but, as many of you know only too well, rent deferrals are not of much help to small business owners. What we want is rent relief, and this is what both the Granville Island Council and the Granville Island Business and Community Association are lobbying for. CMHC does not, unfortunately, have much room to maneuver but if the GI merchants are able to put enough pressure on CMHC the hope is that they, in turn, will put pressure on the federal government and make them understand that Granville Island will be gutted if the small businesses there are allowed to fail. 
 
We will keep you posted.
 
 
AGM
 
We’re finding that we will need to postpone the AGM even a bit longer. Please bear with us as we navigate the intricacies of hosting a large meeting online and deal with the daily challenges and uncertainties that the pandemic has thrown our way. The AGM will be held sometime before the end of May and we will let you know the exact date as soon as we can.
 
 
Wishing you peace and creativity during these unusual times.

 
Warm regards to all.
 
Circle Craft Board