Consumers' Cooperative of Berkeley

[4] In the beginning the co-op operated out of the basement of the parsonage of a local Methodist minister in Alameda, Roy Wilson, in cooperation with another buyers' club formed seven weeks earlier in Oakland, California.

In April 1937 sixty families in the local clubs joined forces to open the CCB's first store at 2491 Shattuck Avenue (at Dwight Way).

By the end of 1937 the store had moved into larger premises on University Avenue, and by 1939 the co-op had grown to 225 families, with sales of $700 a week.

The de facto division of the co-op board into two parties continued until the end, with many issues narrowly decided on a 5–4 vote.

The co-op's final demise in 1988 has been attributed to a number of factors, including too rapid expansion, political infighting over issues like consumer boycotts, and the board's failure to negotiate concessions from its employees' union during its decline.