Profiles In Courage: Joe Holtz of the Park Slope Food Coop

Holy shit, Joe Holtz is awash in paper. We have to think back a few short weeks ago to Design Sponge's aesthetic and ascetic home office in order to appreciate the full glory that is Joe Holtz's impossibly cluttered work space at the Park Slope Food Coop. And it must be said: I LOVE IT! In fact, I think Erica and Grace Bonney should showcase Joe's awesome decor on their blogs. Or maybe Hoarders could do an episode.

Joe Holtz—the Food Coop's first paid employee and its longtime General Coordinator—is my personal hero, even though he does make me snort barf occasionally with his zealous righteousness.

Mostly, though, Joe is so low-key, unassuming, nice, and utterly without vanity or ego, you would have no idea that he's a titan of non-profit industry, Crain's NY and Fortune poster boy, and recipient of a Marty Markowitz proclamation...or day...or something.

Get a load of this photo op. I thought JH was wearing rabbinical duds at first. That thing looks like one of the Ten Commandments. And, is it me, or does Marty have a dash of Charlton Heston in him?

Anyway, Joe has helped create a cooperative grocery empire that had a whopping $39.4 milly in profits last year. According to Fortune, that's over $6,500 in sales per square foot. Contrast this to Trader Joe's, which has a sales per square foot average of $1,750.

I don't actually know what all that means but it sounds super impressive. And I guess it might account for some of the clutter. 

Did you attend Woodstock? Do you dress in anything other than tie-dye?

A friend of mine asked me if I wanted to go to this concert upstate called Woodstock. I said no. My basic year-round uniform includes a t-shirt, like my "Meet the Beetles" one. It has four beetles on it. Other than that, I would rather forget Ed Sullivan, or as my Grandma said, Ed Solomon. [Editor's Note: Huh? Oh, now I get it.]

What are some of the best excuses you've heard over the years for missing Coop shifts?

The dog ate my son's homework. But the more interesting stories relate to why a person will say they should be allowed to shop even though they are deadbeats who have their nannies do their shifts both the 4 week deadline and the extra 10 day grace period have expired for doing a make-up. For that the winner is "But I support the Coop, do you know how much money I spend here!?" My answer is: "If the members who work feel undermined then the whole thing collapses. Its actually not about the money."

Bulletin Board at PSFC

When you have to go beyond the hallowed walls of the PSFC for some groceries, where do you go?

Key Food. I feel like I'm in spaciousness heaven when I go to get my two items. I also might go to the Associated on 5th near Union. They have done a great job of expanding and keeping up with the Key Foods. The Steve's C-town on 9th Street feels best to me of this type. I like that parts of it are unrenovated for the past decades. It works just fine without the cosmetic renovations, and it reminds of city stores from my youth. It seems the busiest of these four markets and has the best feeling to me.

How about potted reviews of Park Slope's other local grocery stores:

Union Market: I think they are doing an excellent job. I love the way they use every inch of space.

Back to the Land: I haven't been in there in a couple of years. Their produce always seemed to be good quality. When I walk by I am often surprised to see one or fewer people shopping for produce.

Fairway: I like how crowded the one on the Upper West Side is, it almost reminds me of home. Was it there that I saw pricing of mushrooms by the half pound? Maybe not. I am planning to visit the one in Red Hook this summer for the first time. But I have made those plans before. Anyone who prices mushrooms by the half pound is being deceptive. Do they do that?

Trader Joe’s: Many many fantastic prices, great line management. I may not want a whole pound of almonds, though.

Costco: I like knowing that they pay their workers well, that more than 90% have health insurance, that there is very little staff turnover, that their mark-up is low overall. They should never be lumped with Wal-mart where only the last of those four things are true.

Your favorite local restaurant(s)?

Not a big restaurant goer. My vote goes to Moim on Garfield because I love that dish where the rice sticks to the cast iron bowl with seafood on top.

Your most and least favorite things about modern-day Park Slope?

Most: the park and the progressive view of most of the people.

Least: the generalizations about Park Slope that I read. Generalizations generally aren't worth much. 

[Editor's Note: well, that's telling us. But see, he's so polite about it]

Your favorite place in Park Slope (other than the Food Coop and home)?

Prospect Park

Do you have any vices or are you all clean living and virtuousness all the time? Online poker, salsa lessons, cigars?

Salsa lessons are a vice?

Have you visited Barneys Co-op yet and how's that lawsuit coming?

No decision yet on how to or whether to proceed. But businesses should know that sometimes its illegal to call yourself something that you are not. In this case, it is illegal. Coop's must strive to educate people about what a cooperative is. I think that's why our legislature has made that part of the law. Too bad Barney's wasn't more careful. Maybe a grocery will open a block from where a new coop has just started. Should it be able to call itself a coop if it is not?

How has the vibe at the PSFC changed over the years? Give us some dirt about the olden days, please. Bong hits at the GM? Key parties? Petty larceny?

You mean you want to know about the squad that always had check-out workers that drank beer? The first ten years did have the best parties, and even annual camping trips. The only fist fight at a General Meeting occurred in the mid seventies, and it was about the household work rules. The rumors that new members are different now are false and have been going around since then.

Without dishing names, how many celebs would you estimate are Coop members?

I have no idea.

Are there any perks to being the GM at the PSFC? Do you get preferential treatment anywhere on account of your VIP status and all those fawning articles in Crain’s and Forbes etc? Are any corporations trying to head hunt you?

NO, no, & no.

Why are you a COOP and not a CO-OP?
I think those founders of which I am one thought the word cooperative did not have a dash in it. If I had to do it over again I might have decided otherwise in order to have avoided this question.

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