Consumers' co-operative

[1] Such co-operatives operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit.

Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to goods and services.

[3] However, there are many types of consumers' cooperatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance (including credit unions).

As employment moved to industrial areas and job sectors declined, workers began organizing and controlling businesses for themselves.

The formation of some workers cooperatives was meant to "cope with the evils of unbridled capitalism and the insecurities of wage labor.

"[5] The first documented consumer cooperative was founded in 1769,[6] in a barely-furnished cottage in Fenwick, East Ayrshire, when local weavers manhandled a sack of oatmeal into John Walker's whitewashed front room and began selling the contents at a discount, forming the Fenwick Weavers' Society.

[7] The philosophy that underpinned the cooperative movement stemmed from such socialist writers as Robert Owen and Charles Fourier.

Robert Owen, considered by many[weasel words] as the father of the cooperative movement, made his fortune in the cotton trade, but believed in putting his workers in a good environment with access to education for themselves and their children.

These ideas were put into effect successfully in the cotton mills of New Lanark, Scotland, where the first co-operative store was opened.

He believed in starting small, and realized that the working classes would need to set up co-operatives for themselves, so he saw his role as one of instruction.

It gave a mixture of co-operative philosophy and practical advice about running a shop using cooperative principles.

[10] As the mechanization of the Industrial Revolution forced more skilled workers into poverty, these tradesmen decided to band together to open their own store selling food items they could not otherwise afford.

Within three months, they expanded their selection to include tea and tobacco, and they were soon known for providing high quality, unadulterated goods.

Democratic functions, such as petitioning or recall of board members, may be codified in the bylaws or organizing document of the cooperative.

As mutually owned businesses, each member of a society has a shareholding equal to the sum they paid in when they joined.

[citation needed] In practice consumers' cooperatives price goods and services at competitive market rates.

[citation needed] Such difficulties can be mitigated by frequently providing member/owners with reliable educational materials regarding current business conditions.

Many advocates of the formation of consumer cooperatives—from a variety of political perspectives—have seen them as integral to the achievement of wider social goals.

In Scandinavia, the national cooperatives Norway, Sweden, and Denmark joined as Coop Norden in January 2002, but separated again in 2008.

Seattle-based R.E.I., which specializes in outdoor sporting equipment, is the largest consumer cooperative in the United States.

[24] Outdoor retailer Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) in Canada was one of that country's major consumer cooperatives.

In the Canadian Prairie provinces as well as British Columbia,[25] gas stations, lumberyards, and grocery stores can be found under the Co-Op brand.