SFBG Chain Alternative Award to Other Avenues (SFVS discount provider)!

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CHAIN ALTERNATIVE AWARD

OTHER AVENUES

Nestled in a part of the city best known for its tiny pastel homes and bracing

sea breezes, Ocean Beach's Other Avenues is everything you could desire in a

neighborhood grocery store: Warm atmosphere, vast swaths of bulk food bins, and

a well-edited health food selection, including vitamins, medicines, and cheery

shelves of produce. Plus health insurance for all its knowledgeable employees.

Trader who? No need for big box stores near Other Avenues, which has earned a

loyal clientele in the 36 years since it first opened its doors. " Since we're a

co-op, I like to think of us as a giant organism, " says Other Avenues worker

Ryan Bieber. " Occasionally we lose parts and regrow them. A lot of customers

have been coming here for 10, 20 years. " Their loyalty might be in response to

Other Avenues' commitment to keeping its beachside clientele healthy and well.

" The aim is to make sure that people have access to things like this, " says

Bieber.

Asked what he thinks would happen if one of the chain grocery behemoths

encroaches on the shop's territory, Bieber is unconcerned. " I think people will

come here regardless. [We] have been doing this forever and we take pretty good

care of ourselves. I think our customers really respond to that. We wouldn't

want a world where there was only Whole Foods — that'd be too boring! " (Donohue)

OTHER AVENUES

3930 Judah, SF

(415) 661-7475

www.otheravenues.coop

http://www.sfbg.com/2010/05/04/our-2010-small-business-awards?page=0,3

 

Card-carrying SFVS members receive the following discount:

Other Avenues Food Store Co-op, 3930 Judah St./44th Ave., SF 94122, 415-661-7475

(http://otheravenues.coop/) 5% off

http://www.sfvs.org/discounts.php