Memorial Day weekend proved eventful for the Nordland community, as the Nordland General Store celebrated its one-year anniversary as a community co-op with a “Birthday Bash” on Saturday, May 24, followed by the annual Marrowstone Island Tractor Days Parade on Sunday, May 25, with its triathlon of running, kayaking and bicycling.

In February of this year, the Marrowstone Island Community Association named Patti Buckland and Barcy Fisher — the president and vice president of the all-volunteer board of the Nordland General Store — as Citizens of the Year for 2024, for contributing not only ideas on how to reopen the store, but also their time toward making those ideas a reality.

Roughly a year after the store’s reopening as a co-op, The Leader spoke with Buckland, as well as with board secretary Carol Gonnella and Sam Sparks, the store’s general manager, about the progress they’d made in time for the “new old” store’s first birthday.

“Our initial goal, when we began testing the feasibility of a community-owned store, was 250 co-op members,” Buckland said. “We currently have almost 600 members. In our first 200 days of operations, we put almost $400,000 back into our local economy.”

Buckland noted those members hail not only from Jefferson County locales including Port Townsend and Port Ludlow, but also from as far afield as San Diego and Boston, thanks in part to the number of folks who maintain “second homes” in the community, as well as to friends and relatives of local residents wishing to show their support.

Buckland proudly touts such benchmarks, noting that more than 35% of the Nordland General Store’s inventory is sourced from local companies, and that it purchases goods and services from more than 50 Olympic Peninsula providers.

Buckland credited this local sourcing with allowing the store to avoid higher prices, even for high-demand items such as eggs, and avoid tariffs almost entirely.

“We even distribute a weekly electronic newsletter to over 1,100 subscribers, with over 70% of our recipients opening the emails,” Buckland said. “We sent an email to our members in January, asking them to make us their ‘one-stop shop.’ Immediately following, we had our busiest Saturday and Sunday since Labor Day weekend.”

Gonnella personally attested to the number of store supporters whom she’s seen consciously adjusting their shopping habits to stop by the Nordland General Store first for their needs.

“It helps that this store includes special goodies that make it worth your while,” Gonnella said. “People love our selections of ice cream and wine, and we’ve drastically expanded our numbers of cookie jars on the counter.”

Buckland expressed her appreciation to the number of supporters who have contributed not only customer traffic and donations, but also “their time and talents” through volunteer labor, including picking up inventory to stock in the store, and transporting out waste and recyclables.

Because of the relatively small size and out-of-the-way location of the Nordland General Store, it’s dealt with difficulties in receiving inventory shipments, as well as with being served by refuse collectors, so Buckland was effusive in her praise for the store’s volunteer go-betweens.

“One of our bigger challenges has involved working with larger suppliers, who might be reluctant to add 45 minutes to their routes, to bring their semi-trailers onto our small island,” Buckland said. “Local folks are more willing to accommodate us.”

What makes running the store easier has been all the assistance it’s received, from volunteers and store staff alike, through tasks ranging from stocking shelves to keeping things tidy.

“Staffing has not been a problem,” Buckland said. “People want to work here.”

Sparks has served as the Nordland General Store’s general manager for the past couple of months, but she came to the position with no shortage of experience under her belt, having worked in a variety of roles at the Chimacum Corner Farmstand for 13 years.

Sparks enjoyed her time at the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, whose people she still works with in her new job, but she sees her move to the Nordland General Store as a “passion project,” to support a co-op that she identified as sharing the most essential values as the farmstand.

“What makes them magical is how community-based they are,” Sparks said. “You wouldn’t ever want to see either of them become part of some big machine. The general store and the corner farmstand even share a lot of the same customers, and they pour their hearts into these places.”

“While the general store’s staff has been enthusiastic in taking up their tasks, Sparks cited her experience with the finer points of retail as among the skills she strives to pass on to those who might be less familiar with those aspects of the business.

“I learn my employees’ strengths, and work to give them the tools they need to do their jobs,” said Sparks, who noted the relative lack of grocery experience among the store’s staff before she arrived.

By working to become part of a national grocery cooperative, Sparks hopes to yield even better prices and cost savings for the store and its customers, but in the meantime, she attested to the smiles of almost everyone who walks through the store’s doors.

“Ultimately, the goal for our little island store is to serve our community and be financially sustainable,” Buckland said. “Our goal is a break-even financial performance, and we hope to meet that goal within our second year of operation.”