La Montañita Co-op’s outlet store in Gallup, N.M., focuses on offering local, organic food to an underserved, rural community. Last November, NCG Western Corridor Specialists Daniel Milliman (Center Store) and Jeffrey Owens (Produce) had the privilege of spending some time onsite at the Gallup store.
La Montañita has four locations in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Gallup, with more than 13,000 members. With just 900 square feet of retail space, the Gallup store does $1.2M in annual sales. NCG’s specialists supported La Montañita’s team in merchandising the store, and conducted trainings around making data-driven decisions and attracting shoppers through customer service, merchandising and promotions.
When NCG staff visited the Gallup location, the store has just made some significant updates, which included replacing the produce cooler and refrigerated and frozen cases. While waiting on various construction and logistical delays (such as coolers coming up to temp and shelving to arrive), Milliman and Owens devoted time to training the Gallup store staff.
Owens spoke about the tenets of leadership within co-ops and the importance of investments within the produce department, while Milliman stressed the importance of data-driven decision making with the help of examples of store-level reports. They also walked staff through a S.W.O.T. analysis of the Gallup location.
“The team was very engaged and really enjoyed the exercises,” Milliman said. “Even though there were some delays, we still made the most of it and were able to spend valuable time with the team.”
“The small team at La Montañita’s Gallup location truly embody ‘Teamwork,’” Owens said. “They all share the responsibilities of serving their customers. They smile, they engage and they are very hardworking.”
