A consumers' cooperative is a cooperative business owned by its customers for their mutual benefit. It is a form of free enterprise that is oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit. The customers or consumers of the goods and/or services the business provides are often also the individuals who have provided the capital required to launch or purchase that enterprise. For cooperative as used in biochemistry, see cooperative binding. ... The term mutual aid has multiple meanings. ... Free Enterprise is am economic system characterized by private or corporate ownership of capital goods; investments that are determined by private decision rather than by state control; and determined in a free market. ...

There are many types of consumers' cooperative. There are health care, insurance, and housing cooperatives as well as credit unions, agricultural and utility cooperatives. The major difference between consumers' cooperatives and other forms of business is that the purpose of a consumers' cooperative association is to provide quality goods and services at the lowest cost to the consumer/owners rather than to sell goods and services at the highest price above cost that the consumer is willing to pay. In practice consumers' cooperatives price goods and services at competitive market rates. The difference is that where a for-profit enterprise will treat the difference between cost (including labor, etc.) and selling price as financial gain, the consumer owned enterprise returns this sum to the consumer/owner as an over-payment. A housing co-operative is a legal entity, usually a corporation, that owns real estate, one or more residential buildings. ... A credit union is a cooperative financial institution that is owned and controlled by its members. ... A utility cooperative is a type of cooperative that is tasked with the delivery of a public utility such as electricity or telecommunications to its members. ...

Large consumers' co-ops are run much like any other business and require workers, managers, clerks, products, and customers to keep the doors open and the business running. In smaller businesses the consumer/owners are often workers as well. Consumers' cooperatives can differ greatly in start up and also in how the co-op is run but to be true to the consumers' cooperative form of business the enterprise should follow the Rochdale Principles. The Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. ...

Consumers' cooperatives may, in turn, form Co-operative Federations. These may come in the form of co-operative wholesale societies, through which Consumers' Co-operatives collectively purchase goods at wholesale prices and, in some cases, own factories. Alternatively, they may be members of Co-operative Unions. A Co-operative Federation is a Co-operative society in which all members are, in turn, Co-operatives. ... Co-operative Group - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ... A Co-operative Union is Co-operative Federation (that is, a Co-operative in which all the members are Co-operatives). ...

Governance

Consumers' cooperatives utilize the cooperative principle of Democratic member control, or one member/one vote. Most consumers' cooperatives have a board of directors elected by and from the membership. The board is usually responsible for hiring management and ensuring that the cooperative meets its goals, both fiscal and otherwise. Democratic functions, such as petitioning or recall of board members, may be codified in the bylaws or organizing document of the cooperative. Most consumers' cooperatives hold regular membership meetings (often once a year). As mutually-owned businesses, each member of a society has a shareholding equal to the sum they paid in when they joined. The second of the Rochdale Principles states that Co-operative societies must have democratic member control. ... In relation to a company, a director is an officer (that is, someone who works for the company) charged with the conduct and management of its affairs. ... A Bylaw (sometimes also seen as By-Law or ByLaw) is a rule governing the internal management of an organization, such as a business corporation. ...

Role of government

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There is no unusual government role needed in a consumer owned and operated business and practically considered there is less requirement for government involvement than there is with a business established to maximize monetary gain for its owners. This is because there is no incentive for a consumer-owned company to misrepresent the quality or value of what it offers for sale to its owner customers, so there is little utility or need in having inspectors who work for a government policing this form of business. However there is a need to oversee the actions of the board of directors. In Minnesota statute 308a governs cooperatives there is no government organization to turn to when the board of directors ignores state statute. The Wedge Co-op of Minneapolis is an example of this. Statute 308a gives the member/owners the legal right to nominate candidates for the board of directors. Unfortunately Sarah Wovcha of the board of directors and H.R. Manager Sara Zaag decide whom may receive a nomination. During the 2006 annual meeting hundreds of votes were not counted, the votes were not counted because the candidate John Palmer was not approved by the board of directors. As the consumer ultimately provides the capital for all business enterprise^{[citation needed]} it is unfortunate that the consumer ownership form of endeavor is not better understood and utilized. There is no reason why most large enterprises could not thrive if they were owned and operated as consumers' cooperatives rather than businesses designed to provide financial gain for stock holders who may have no personal involvement in the enterprise beyond monetary profit. For example Time reported in an article -The Farmer Takes a Town, Monday, Dec. 25, 1944: Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ... Image File history File links Fairytale_waring. ... This Manual of Style has the simple purpose of making things easy to read by following a consistent format — it is a style guide. ...

In the United States detractors of consumer owned business have often tried to imply that consumers' cooperative businesses are subsidized by government allowed tax breaks but this is actually a dispute about whether surplus payment returns to consumer/owner patrons are considered as being the same as dividends payed to corporate stock holders^{[citation needed]}. As the Time article quoted from above states, the National Tax Equality Association (NTEA) launched a protracted campaign to convince the United States government to enact laws that would be unfavorable to consumer owned business.

Problems of consumers' cooperation

Because consumers' cooperatives are run democratically they are subject to some of the same problems experienced by democratic government: the selection of incompetent or dishonest management, poor business planning, deficit spending, etc. Consumers may prefer to vote with their feet than to do detailed superisory work of an organisation they do not work for, for example at The Equitable Life Assurance Society in the UK. Problems such as these can generally be avoided by providing member/owners with educational materials that inform often and honestly as regard to business conditions. A helpful study of practices that are detrimental to a consumer owned business is provided by Problems of Cooperation, by James Peter Warbasse. The Equitable Life Assurance Society (Equitable Life), founded 1762, is a life insurance company in the United Kingdom. ...

A historical account of consumers' cooperation social goals

Consumers' co-operation has been a focus of study in the field of Co-operative economics. The Co-operative Federalist school, in particular, has advocated such organisational forms. Co-operative economics is a field of economics, socialist economics, Co-operative studies, and political economy, which is concerned with co-operatives. ... Co-operative Federalism is a school of thought in the field of Co-operative economics. ...

Consumers' co-operatives in different countries

Australia

• University Co-operative Bookshop Ltd, Co-op Bookshop, Australia's largest Consumers' co-operative. Established by students in 1958, has grown to become the largest provider of educational, professional and lifelong learning resources in Australia. With over 40 branches across Australia, numerous additional services and over one million members, the Co-op is more than just a bookshop.

• The Wine Society (Australian Wine Consumers’ Co-operative Society Limited) The Wine Society Established in 1946,now has over 58,000 members. Also sources and sells premium wines under the Society label, runs comprehensive wine education courses and recognises excellence from young winemakers.

Europe

In the United Kingdom, the nationwide Co-operative Group, formerly the Co-operative Wholesale Society (or "CWS"), owns many of its own supermarkets, as well as supplying goods wholesale to the majority of British co-operative societies, providing a common branding and logo. It has been suggested that Co-op (supermarket) be merged into this article or section. ... Co-operative Group - Wikipedia /**/ @import /w/skins-1. ...

In Scandinavia, the national cooperations of Norway, Sweden and Denmark joined as Coop Norden A/S in January 2002. Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe which includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden. ... Coop Norden (Coop Nordic) is a joint Scandinavian retail chain. ...

In Italy the Coop Italia chain formed by many sub-cooperatives controlled 17.7% of the grocery market in 2005. Coop is an Italian cooperative which operates the largest supermarket chain in Italy. ...

In Finland the S Group is owned by 22 regional cooperatives and 19 local cooperative stores, which in turn are owned by their customers. In 2005 the S Group overtook its nearest rival Kesko Oyj with a 36% share of retail grocery sales compared to Kesko’s 28%.^[1] S-Group is Finlands second largest supermarket chain, after the market leader K-Kauppa. ... Kesko is a Finnish retailing conglomerate. ...

Japan

Japan has a very large and well developed consumer co-operative movement with over 14 million members; retail co-ops alone had a combined turnover of 2.519 trillion Yen (21.184 billion U.S. Dollars [market exchange rates as of 11/15/2005]) in 2003/4.^[2] In Japan, Co-op Kobe (コープこうべ) in the Hyōgo Prefecture is the largest retail cooperative in Japan and, with over 1.2 million members, is one of the largest cooperatives in the world. In addition to retail co-ops there are medical, housing and insurance co-ops alongside institutional (workplace based) co-ops, co-ops for school teachers and university based co-ops. Hyōgo Prefecture (兵庫県 Hyōgo-ken) is located in the Kinki region on Honshu island, Japan. ...

Approximately 1 in 5 of all Japanese households belongs to a local retail co-op and 90% of all co-op members are women. (Takamura, 1995). Nearly 6 million households belong to one of the 1,788,000 Han groups (Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union., 2003). These consist of a group of five to ten members in a neighbourhood who place a combined weekly order which is then delivered by truck the following week. A particular strength of Japanese consumer co-ops in recent years has been the growth of community supported agriculture where fresh produce is sent direct to consumers from producers without going through the market. Community-supported agriculture (CSA) is the practice of farming with a greater-than-usual degree of involvement of consumers and other stakeholders. ...

North America

In the United States, the PCC (Puget Consumers Cooperative) Natural Markets in Seattle is the largest consumer-owned food cooperative in the United States.^[3]. The National Cooperative Grocers Association maintains a food cooperative directory. PCC (Puget Consumers Cooperative) Natural Markets is a food cooperative based in Seattle, Washington. ... City nickname Emerald City City bird Great Blue Heron City flower Dahlia City mottos The City of Flowers The City of Goodwill City song Seattle, the Peerless City Mayor Greg Nickels County King County Area   - Total   - Land   - Water   - % water 369. ... The National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA) is a federation of cooperative grocery stores founded in 1999 in the United States. ...

Seattle-based R.E.I., which specializes in outdoor sporting equipment, is the largest consumer cooperative in the United States. Modern R.E.I. Logo The REI store in Mountain View, California REI (Recreational Equipment Inc. ...

Similarly, outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op in Canada, is one of the country's major consumer cooperatives. Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) is a collectively owned retail co-operative, selling quality outdoor wear and clothing in Canada. ...

Notes

1. ^ Retailing in Finland, London, UK: Euromonitor International, October 2006. Retrieved on 2007-06-28
2. ^ Japanese Consumers' Co-operative Union., 2003
3. ^ Cooperative Grocers' Association website

Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

See also

• Cooperative
• Worker cooperative
• Health food store
• History of the cooperative movement

For cooperative as used in biochemistry, see cooperative binding. ... A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and operated by its worker-owners. There are no outside, or consumer owners, in a workers cooperative - only the workers own shares of the business. ... A health food store is a type of grocery store that primarily sells natural or organic foods, and often nutritional supplements. ... The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives. ...

Further reading

• Consumers' Co-operative Societies, by Charles Gide, 1922
• Co-operation 1921-1947, published monthly by The Co-operative League of America
• The History of Co-operation, by George Jacob Holyoake, 1908
• Cooperative Peace, by James Peter Warbasse, 1950
• Problems Of Cooperation, by James Peter Warbasse, 1941
• Why Co-ops? What Are They? How Do They Work? A pamphlet from the G.I. Roundtable series by Joseph G. Knapp, 1944

Charles Gide (1847–1932) was a French economist and notable ideologue of the cooperative movement in the first third of the 20th century. ... George Jacob Holyoake ( April 13, 1817 - 1906), English secularist and co-operator, was born at Birmingham. ...

External links

• Cooperatives Europe – The common platform of ICA Europe and the CCACE
• International Co-operative Alliance
• Co-operatives UK, the central organisation for all UK co-operative enterprises
• The online database of UK Co-operatives
• ICOS, the Irish Co-operative Organisation Society
• National Cooperative Business Association (USA)
• The ICA Group, technical advice for cooperative start-ups in the USA.
• English website from the Japanese Consumer Co-operative Union.
• A new approach to cooperative understanding
• University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives
• Coopnet Update paper and event database