Mary DeMare
Mary DeMare is Chatham Marketplace’s General Manager and serves on the Board of Directors. Originally from Elba, a small town in Western NY State, Mary is the youngest of 7 siblings. Graduating at the top of her class of 32 people, she went on to receive a BA in Sociology from the College of St. Rose in Albany, NY. After trying out many jobs and many places to live, she found Newark Natural Foods. This thriving, 30 year old cooperative grocery store in Newark, Delaware was where Mary fell in love with the Cooperative business structure and the 7 Cooperative principles. Starting as a cashier, she quickly found her niche and became the Marketing Director/Membership Coordinator, a position she held for over two years. While in that position, Newark Natural Foods was voted “Best Health Food Store” in Delaware by Delaware Today magazine. Also during her tenure at Delaware, Mary was involved with the design and orchestration of a complete reset of the retail and warehouse space. Once the store reset was complete, linear shelf space was increased by 35 percent, a Customer Service Desk was added and store flow was greatly improved. In the fall of 2004 Mary took over as Interim General Manager, and ran the store while the Board did a national search for a new manager.
After about 6 months of Interim General Managing, Mary saw the help wanted ad Tami Schwerin and Melissa Frey had written for an exciting new opportunity…starting a Co-op in Pittsboro, NC. Well, heck, she couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give it a try, and all the stars were aligned such that she was offered the job! Mary started with Chatham Marketplace on June 1, 2005, and has been enjoying the store, the community and the biofueled-ride ever since.
David Dellea
David Dellea is the head of the Produce Department. David says, “I sold my first vegetable, from the family garden at age 10, with my very own roadside stand. That lasted until the mid-teens, when there were reasons to spend that money I had been making. I then took a twenty year hiatus from selling yummy, fresh from the earth, fruits and veggies. This is where i need to thank my mom for her open mindedness and in encouraging me to reach for the stars and to my dad for scaring away all the things that go bump in the night as well as all those recruiters. In that time I managed to see some wonderful parts of Europe, Greece and the US. I received a bachelors degree in American Studies and Theater, from SUNY Brockport. I spent 3 years in Francisco where I worked for Greenpeace, the Food Bank of San Mateo, and on the North Shore fishing docks.
After all that I found myself a new home and it was called North Carolina. Now this is where the fun begins, it seemed that I had finally found my roots. In 1991 I started selling fruits and veggies again for a new store in Chapel Hill called Wellspring Grocery. Several years later, I heard the call, a Coop was looking for someone to sell veggies and I had to answer. I spent seven years with Weaver Street Market, in Carrboro. In that time, I learned a lot about life and had the joy of witnessing the birth of both of my beautiful, intelligent, polite, imaginative, (i could just go on and on…), boys, Jesse and Noah. I got married and divorced and now have an amazing joint custody lifestyle that benefits us all wonderfully. They are now 12 and 10 years old.
Anyone up for Dungeons and Dragons just let us know. Wait, what’s that, the sound of a Co-op in need of someone to sell yummy fruits and veggies, yes its the Durham Food Coop, your friendly neighborhood produce artisan is on the way. I helped out there for about four years (the commute was killing me and my vehicle, a 1963 four-wheel drive Jimmy), when I heard the call…
It was Chatham Marketplace, your friendly neighborhood produce artisan is on the way. Now I am here and I am very excited for this opportunity. I look forward to working closely with local producers and providing the best products that we can offer. I am also very happy to join the dedicated staff and board of Chatham Marketplace on our journey to make this the store we have all been waiting for.”
Dave Schirmer
Dave Schirmer was born and raised in Durham N.C. The youngest of 3 boys, he found at an early age that cooking was the surest way to feed an empty stomach. He graduated Southern High School in Durham and went to Wayne Community College in Goldsboro NC. He graduated from there with an Asscociate’s degree in applied science (auto tech). What he really learned was he didn’t like to get paid to get greasy. After several different employment opportunities he found a job at a deli which re-sparked his interest in food and alsowas the place where he met his wife. Since then they have visited 5 different countries, bought a house, Dave completed a tour of duty as a stay at home father and then found a home at the market. Since coming on at CM he and his wife have had another beautiful girl and are building a house in Chatham Co. Yes folks, he’s home.
Miki Adams
Miki Adams has served as Bookkeeper for the co-op since 2006, before the store opened. A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, she earned a couple of degrees in fine art. She lived in Chapel Hill for 21 years before setting out for Washington, DC, Maryland, and south-central Pennsylvania. Miki’s work experience has included graphic design, advertising and marketing, business services and fundraising. Miki’s avocations include quilt making, watercolor and pastel painting.
Kelly Shattuck
Kelly Shattuck joins the Chatham Marketplace management team after 15 plus years of working in the natural foods industry. As the former manager of an independent family run health food store in Raleigh, Kelly is right at home in the aisles of Chatham Marketplace in any capacity. During the years between, Kelly worked in the corporate world at an architecture firm as Operations Manager, and at an acupuncture clinic as a Client Service Coordinator and Nutritional and Lifestyle Consultant. During that time, she also earned the title of “Certified Herbalist” from Rosemary Gladstar’s Home Study Science and Art of Herbalism course.
This past summer she had the pleasure of being selected to join and complete an apprenticeship with local renowned herbalist Suki Roth. Kelly’s goal for the Health and Beauty department at Chatham Marketplace is to create a friendly place where you can always find someone to assist you in your selection of superior quality goods at budget friendly prices. Kelly waited until her mid-thirties to get married and it was well worth the wait. Donny Shattuck brought wonderful musical taste and creativity into her over organized life. Donny also had two beautiful daughters named Dylan and Marley who Kelly was thrilled to become a step-mother to. Kelly’s hobbies include cooking gourmet meals, gardening, and discovering new places thru spontaneous road trips.
Brian Peat
Brian Peat moved from his home state of Connecticut to North Carolina in 2005 and has found a comfortable community and home here in Pittsboro. With a split background in food service and industrial distribution, Brian started at Chatham Marketplace lending his skills to the kitchen and now has found a nice little niche on the Board of Directors to put his business skills into play. After managing a small cutting tool distributor for ten years and spending the next two opening and growing a new branch in Raleigh, Brian has developed a unique perspective in many aspects of small business and plans to draw on all of his mental resources in his service to the the board, the store and our community.