The Old Community Market

The Old Community Market
Originally uploaded by Robbi Baba.

This morning Krista and I went to the new Community Market, over on Mendocino to get a few things. I brought my camera because I'd heard were some old photos of the old store on Morgan Street. The old store was torn down last year and it just about broke our hearts. Especially when we realized we had no photos of it.
I'm not sure who took these (it could have been me!). Krista and I both worked at the market, though mostly not at the same time. This was back in the mid to late 80's before India was born. In fact, Krista discovered she was pregnant while working there.
It was easily the most fun job I ever had--cashiering, stocking and ordering.
These were the days before Whole Foods and their corporate ilk. Most folks had never even heard the term 'organic'. We served the hard core health nuts, political activists and pre-yuppie/ex-hippy folk of Santa Rosa. And, of course, the residential neighborhood where we were planted.
Every item we sold had to pass numerous tests or we just didn't sell it. Vegetarian, no sugar, organic if possible, local if possible, cruelty free, fair labor practices, non offensive to women (this meant no 'diet' or weight loss products or sexist packaging). We looked at parent companies with a critical eye too. I remember debating whether 3M, which made scrubbie sponges, was okay or not.
The end result was that our customers could just relax and buy most anything we had to offer, without reading the labels and worrying.
Our motto was "Food For People, Not For Profit" and we kept our markup dangerously low. We all worked for starvation wages. But we had a mission and felt it was a noble thing.
It was a noble thing.
Whole Foods has done a remarkable job of giving their customers that same feeling of trust and safety. Only they haven't earned it. It's mostly just very clever PR. Still though, better than Safeway.
I guess we paved the way.