Federal Employees' Distributing Company
Type	Defunct
Founded	1948
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California
Industry	Retail
Products	clothing, footwear, housewares, jewelry, garden, appliances, sporting goods, produce, hardware, toys, electronics
Website	None

Fedco (Federal Employees' Distributing Company) was a membership-based department store chain that operated in Southern California from 1948 to 1999. Image File history File links Fedcologo. ... ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... Nickname: City of Angels Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates: State California County Los Angeles County Incorporated April 4, 1850 Government  - Type mayor-council  - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D)  - City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo  - Governing body City Council Area  - City  465. ... Drawing of a self-service store. ... A website (or Web site) is a collection of web pages, images, videos and other digital assets and hosted on a particular domain or subdomain on the World Wide Web. ... The interior of a typical Macys department store. ... Downtown Los Angeles Skyline Southern California, also colloquially referred to as SoCal, is an informal name for the megalopolis and nearby desert that occupies the southern-most quarter of the U.S. state of California. ... 1948 (MCMXLVIII) was a leap year starting on Thursday (the link is to a full 1948 calendar). ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

History

Beginning

Unusually, the chain was a nonprofit consumers' cooperative; it had been founded by 800 U.S. Post Office workers who had wanted to leverage their buying power by purchasing goods directly from wholesalers. Trade lines included grocery, and in some locations, auto services and furniture. A lifetime membership was available for under five dollars if the prospective member was an employee of the U.S. government or a student, or family of the same. Fedco's lifetime membership cost $10 in 1998 [1]. A non-profit organization (often called non-profit org or simply non-profit or not-for-profit) can be seen as an organization that doesnt have a goal to make a profit. ... For cooperative as used in biochemistry, see cooperative binding. ... The United States Postal Service (USPS) is an independent establishment of the executive branch of the United States Government (see 39 U.S.C. Â§ 201) responsible for providing postal service in the United States. ... ...

At its peak, Fedco had ten department stores plus three appliance-only stores, and served 4 million members.

Business Model

Once inside the store, via the membership card, the customer/member was presented with a wide variety of consumer products. Everything from a well stocked camera department, garden department, clothing, jewelry and even food. The stores were tightly managed and offered many young people their first real jobs. Not widely known by many customer/members was that some of the departments around the edge of the building were not Fedco businesses but in fact concessions run by outside companies. As an example, the Stereo Components department was run by a small company called Coastron, the main seller for the Soundcraftsmen line of stereo equipment. Coastron would pay rent to Fedco to operate within their building. Other concessions within Fedco were the Optical Dept (later bought out by Fedco), the Shaver Shop, Key & Lock Shop, etc. Soundcraftsmen was a manufacturer of high-end audio stereo components located in Santa Ana, California, United States. ...

The membership model was quite successful for Fedco, for decades. The parking lots were often quite full. It was very common to have the store jammed with many members, with long lines at checkout. Once the customer paid, their shopping bags would be stapled shut with the receipt placed on the top of the bag with a single staple. As the store had only one main entrance, it had only one main exit. These entrance and exit portals were favorite locations for poeple pushing political agendas. That illustrates how much of a draw Fedco was in it's day - it was a busy place.

Bankruptcy

Fedco predated the giant chains Wal-Mart, Target, Kmart, and fellow membership chain Costco, but remained a regional chain and eventually was unable to compete with the national retail titans. Fedco filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1999, at which point it had been the longest-operating membership-based store in the country. Most of its locations were sold to the Target chain. The proceeds of the bankruptcy sale were placed in a trust fund intended to charitably serve communities that had hosted Fedco stores. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ... This article is about the United States retail company. ... Kmart is a chain of department stores in the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam. ... Costco Wholesale Corporation (NASDAQ: COST) is a membership warehouse club chain headquartered in Issaquah, Washington, United States, with its flagship warehouse #1 in nearby Seattle. ... Chapter 11 is a part of the United States Code dealing with bankruptcy. ... 1999 (MCMXCIX) was a common year starting on Friday, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ... This article is about the United States retail company. ...

Locations

• MAIN DEPARTMENT STORES
  • Buena Park, CA (opened 1993 in former May Company store. Second and last multi-level location with 3 floors. Torn down for Wal-Mart)
  • Cerritos, CA (Torn down for Target Greatland)
  • Costa Mesa, CA (torn down and replaced by a Target Greatland, Henry's Marketplace, and other small stores)
  • Escondido, CA (former Sears store, opened early 80's, first multi-level Fedco - torn down for Home Depot)
  • Los Angeles, CA - La Cienega (Torn down for Target)
  • National City, CA (torn down for Wal Mart)
  • Ontario, CA (now home to Ontario Police Department)
  • Pasadena, CA (Torn down for Target)
  • San Bernardino, CA (Torn down for Target)
  • Van Nuys, CA (Torn down for a Target)

Buena Park is a city located in northwestern Orange County, California. ... City nicknames: The Geographic Center of Southern California The Freeway City County: Los Angeles County, California Mayor: Paul W. Bowlen (re-elected 2003) Mayor Pro Tem: Laura Lee (elected 2003) City Council: Jim Edwards (elected 2005) Gloria A. Kappe (re-elected 2003) John F. Crawley (re-elected 2005) Mottos: A... Costa Mesa is a city located in Orange County, California. ... Escondido is a city located in San Diego County, California just north of San Diego, California. ... This article is about the largest city in California. ... National City is a city located in San Diego County, California. ... Ontario is a city located in San Bernardino County, California. ... The Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena, CA Pasadena is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. ... San Bernardino is the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. ... Van Nuys redirects here. ...

References

• "New format positions Fedco for future growth" by Robert Scally, Discount Store News, November 23, 1998, retrieved September 18, 2006