Much Bigger Than Just One Store Bobby Sullivan, GM
With so many new stores in Asheville, we at the Co-op have been talking a lot about what really sets us apart from the rest. Many who walk in our store probably don’t realize the fundamental difference we have as a business structure, which prevents us from selling out, or changing our policies based on the whims of powerful financial interests. So, though “health food” and “local” products are available today like never before, we would say that so too are the reasons co-ops started in the first place. Our world desperately needs thriving co-ops in every sector, so that we can continue to grow our communities, instead of simply enriching a few individuals. When co-ops were first formed, according to Weavers of Dreams, Founders of the Modern Cooperative Movement by David Thompson, they were responding to “keenly felt needs. These were primarily economic needs, but to a significant extent they were also social – a desire for basic education, for political rights and for more equitable participation of women. The Rochdale Pioneers, as Co-operative leaders after them have done throughout the world, were concerned with both economic and social forms of justice. They sought to combine the development of a strong, economic enterprise with contributions towards social and political reform.” (pg. vii) The good news is that we are now part of an almost 200 store national organization, which allows us to have the buying power of a chain, without the standardization that usually comes with
it. This way we can be independent and well suited for Asheville, able to change if our more than 1700 owners see fit. This also means we have great prices! Clearly the current corporate business model leaves a lot to be desired, as the middle class continues to shrink and those below the poverty level find more and more social programs disappearing. Companies typically pay huge salaries to those at the top, while paying as little as possible to those below. “Income inequality has soared to the highest levels since the Great Depression and the recession has done little to reverse the trend, with the top 1 percent of earners taking 93 percent of the income gains in the first full year of the recovery,” The New York Times reported in October 2012. Co-ops, on the other hand provide communities with shared business assets, which build local economic and community vitality. In fact, with the UN’s events surrounding their “International Year of Co-operatives,” a lot of light was shed on the promise of the co-operative economic model benefitting our shared futures. As co-operators got together globally they got to share a lot of local perspectives about an increasingly global issue. One attendee at the 2012 International Summit of Co-operatives in Quebec City, Canada “left strongly impressed by the sheer continued on page 2