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 In
the meantime, the Rainbow Grocery and, particularly, General Store
divisions had continued to grow. Indeed they had outgrown the confines
of their 2,000 square foot storefront on 16th Street. In 1983, Rainbow
moved to a 9000 square foot space on 15th and Mission. Business
jumped 68% in the first year at the new site. With this influx of
money, workers were able to give themselves their first substantial
raise and obtain group health insurance. Another advantage of the
move was that it allowed the Grocery and General Store divisions
to share the same building, which promoted cultural cohesion. Yet,
each division retained it own cash register system, policies, organizational
structure, etc. There were even rules restricting workers from being
in both collectives at the same time. People got around those rules,
of course, but there was little inter-divisional, even little interdepartmental
working in that period. Another significant organizational development
made in preparation for the move was creation of a Board of Directors,
who met regularly beginning in 1982. Prior to 1982, all decisions
were made in "Joint Meetings" of all workers from the
Grocery and General Store divisions.
 Design
and construction of the Mission & 15th store was financed primarily
with approximately $250,000 in customer loans. Rainbow needed to
turn to its customers for financing in part because banks would
not lend to a worker collective legally-organized along the lines
of a charitable nonprofit; bankers would always ask "but who
really owns the business?" Thus, when overcrowding inspired
Rainbow to look again for a larger space, the collective acted to
re-form as a cooperative corporation (a legal form that did not
exist when, in 1976, Rainbow originally incorporated). The change
in legal form, accomplished in 1993, finally allowed Rainbow to
provide bankers with an answer they could, if not like, at least
understand: Rainbow is owned by its shareholders, which are its
workers."
For several years Rainbow enjoyed the position of being one of
the largest health food stores in the Bay Area. In addition, the
dedication and commitment of Rainbow workers was instrumental in
establishing some of the earliest standards for Organic Certification
as well as in marketing more bulk foods than any other store and
selling a wider variety of herbs and supplements.
 It
was not long before the Mission Street store outgrew itself. Even
by 1988, customers and workers were literally climbing over each
other to get to products in the store. It was also at this time
that stores like Real Foods, Living Foods and Whole Foods were opening
around the Bay Area. These spacious, well-lit, clean markets began
to influence the way the shopping public perceived health food stores.
No longer was the do-it-yourself "hippie collective" the
standard model. Shoppers' expectations were formed on their experiences
elsewhere. As Rainbow approached the end of its 10-year lease, it
was more and more apparent that the space at Mission and 15th was
not adequate. In 1992 the store decided to begin looking for a new
space. It was four years in the making - locating a space, negotiating
a lease, coming up with a design, and finishing construction.
One major factor that helped Rainbow in its move to Folsom Street
was the ability to get a bank loan ($1 million from First National)
with backing from the city government. The city backed (guaranteed)
the bank loan in part because Rainbow would be creating jobs and
in part because Rainbow was moving into a then economically-depressed
neighborhood, an Enterprise Zone designated for economic development
funding. The city also lent Rainbow $400,000 in addition to backing
the bank loan.
In order to carry off the planning for and the growth involved
in the move, Rainbow undertook further organizational refinement.
As part of the move, the Grocery and General Store divisions were
dissolved and Rainbow divided into Departments as its basic units;
Joint Meetings between the divisions were replaced by Membership
Meetings. The Membership Meeting created a Storewide Steering Committee
to help coordinate the Departments and overall day-to-day operations
hoping to free the Board to focus on the larger financial/legal
issues and long-term planning.
All the planning and hard work came to fruition with our opening
at Folsom Street on April 25, 1996. As with the previous move, sales
skyrocketed (this time 55% in one year). And, the financial success
allowed a substantial increase in wages and benefits, and "patronage"
distributions in keeping with our new cooperative legal structure.
The work force, hovering around 100 workers in the final years at
Mission Street, doubled in a couple years following the move. The
rapid addition of new members to our community made it all the more
important that we preserve and pass on our history - so that we
appreciate what came before us and so that we can move forward from
a common understanding.
The makeup of stores with similar origins in the Bay Area has changed.
Interestingly, the natural foods business has become a competitive
industry, one that strongly mimics the industrial agribusiness complex
against which many of the first community food stores rebelled.
Of the other stores from the People's Food System only Other Avenues
remains. Noe Valley Community Store and the Inner Sunset Community
Store are the most recent to have closed. The Good Life Grocery
survives as a privately owned business as does People's Refrigeration
and Veritable Vegetable (a distribution warehouse). In April of
1997, Uprisings Bakery closed its doors, sadly signaling an end
to an era of locally and independently produced food.
Rainbow's place in this new agribusiness is at times uncomfortable
and challenging. We strive to compete with giant chains who falsely
mimic our collective structure with "teams and team leaders,"
although they still maintain oppressive hierarchical structures
in the workplace. We are constantly forced to examine the products
we buy as smaller local businesses are swallowed up by multinational
corporations who may not have the same values as the original owners.
With health food becoming part of our national awareness, the lines
between "healthy" and "unhealthy" are not so
clearly drawn. Herbal remedies are now being mass-produced and sold
in pharmacy chains like Walgreens and Rite-Aid, instead of wildcrafted
in local regions. Soymilk can now even be found at many local corner
stores that typically used to only sell chips, beer and beef jerky.
(The opposite is also now true, for unlike in the old days, you
can find chips, beer and (vegi) jerky on our shelves.) With the
advent of Genetically Modified foods and the lack of government
requirements when it comes to testing and labeling, we face even
more challenges. And occasionally, certain government organizations
decide they want to change organic standards to include practices
that we abhor.
Despite these challenges there are enough people who are interested
in organically grown and locally produced foods to keep our doors
open. We continue to stay true to our mission and hope to inspire
others in the realms of good food and cooperative living.
This history was partially compiled by Tim Huet, a former Rainbow
worker who interviewed several of Rainbow's founding members to
verify the details noted here. Editing done by Rachel Forsmann.
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