Don Gordon's Next Move

The former candidate for Chicago City Council and long-time resident of Rogers Park has not been slacking off. In fact, he and others are busy planning to revolutionize the retail food industry, as Don Gordon details in his own words: As a few of you know, since the election challenge came to an abrupt end last August, I've been working on a business plan for a new concept in food stores. It's kept me pretty much in "hibernation" and certainly has taken all of my attention, but I wanted to at least let all of you who worked so hard in my campaign or lent me your support know what I'm up to at this time. I won't go into the details at this point other than to say that there will be nothing like what we're putting together and that it will be a very exciting retail experience that will forever change the way people shop for food. From the presentation of the store layout to the "check-out" process, our customers will be immersed in a smarter way to purchase their food. It also leverages my life-long addiction to health and fitness by bringing the whole aspect of wellness into the concept ("shop smart, eat right, live well"). Of course being a long-time community activist, we've also incorporated a neighborhood development aspect to the business as well - our focus at first for locating the stores will be throughout Chicago's 77 communities. And yes, there will be bleeding edge technology components to the business - 25 years managing technology projects taught me a little about that. :-) There are three partners involved at this point, including myself, but we're looking for one more. We need to bring on board a partner who has a long history in the retail grocery business and well versed in the management of all aspects of running a store. Though all 3 of us have had experience in the grocery industry in the past (combined 40 years), we need to have a partner who will be focused on the store management aspect of the business and who has been working in the industry more recently. If you know someone, or someone who knows someone (currently working or retired) with this kind of background and who's at the stage in their life that they want to do something that not only will be personally rewarding but also present an opportunity to change the face of the retail food industry, then please let me know. I'd love to talk to them. Finally, if you're simply interested in knowing more about this project and the investment opportunities associated with this start-up endeavor, I'd be more than happy to discuss that as well. I'll have a final business plan done by end of February, at which point I'll be hitting the streets making presentations. You can email me at fit4life@the-gordon-family.net. I hope the new year finds all of you well and that 2008 will be good for everyone. I'll be busy working on getting our new business launched so we can open by Spring of '09 and in the interim hopefully landing a few teaching engagements at one of the local universities. Evidently aldermanic campaign experience, especially the candidate's, is worthy of a Political Science Department's interest. Hope to hear from you, even if it's just to say hello. Sincerely, Don Gordon