Here's how Oneota Co-op switched to an online ordering system

(Behind the scenes as Oneota Community Co-op expands services to phone and online ordering only):

"This was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make in my life," says Oneota Community Co-op General Manager David Lester.  He's talking about the decision to limit grocery shopping at the Co-op to on-line and telephone orders only.

Once that difficult decision was made, there was another difficult reality--the store did not have an online presence to sell groceries.

Lester and his management team had organized a pandemic response plan in early March as news of the scope of Covid-19 became clearer to the general public. With that plan in place and within five days work, Co-op IT Coordinator Theresa Kleve and Marketing & Outreach Manager Nate Furler created a new online ordering system through Shopify with over 6,000 available items. Customers in the Decorah area can place an online or phone order that can be picked up storefront, or delivered through another service.

"The overwhelming response from our community keeps us moving forward. We are refining our procedures daily in case this is a long-term situation," said Furler. He added, "the cooperative phrase 'Stronger Together' really takes on more meaning these days."

The Oneota Community Food Co-op' website is: www.oneotacoop.com.