There is a grocery store near my house called fresh & easy. It’s a new chain, based primarily in Southern California. The store seems to be modeled a bit more after grocery stores in the UK. The store isn’t terribly large. The selection is somewhat limited. The packaging for freshly prepared foods is pretty universal.
But the prices are great.
I love the other grocery stores in my area. If I lived closer to a Whole Foods, I would probably spend a great deal of my time driving there, but fresh & easy is perfect for me now.
By having a smaller selection, a smaller store, and more uniformed packaging, the store saves money and passes it on to the customers. It also does a nice job of having several promotions for school (currently $1 from every $20+ receipt can be donated to a local school of your choice). It’s incredibly effective.
Today, I picked up some chicken soup costing less than canned soup and was actually fresher.
Can we do the same in our organizations? Instead of always looking for MORE can we do the same things BETTER and with less cost? Can we find the ways to take our existing programs and give back to our local communities in the process?
I think the answer is yes.
So let’s do it.