A grocery store (AE), grocery shop (BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, and is not used to refer to other types of stores that sell groceries. In the UK, shops that sell food are distinguished as grocers or grocery shops.
Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including food retail, wholesale, e-pharmacy, insurance and legal services, and funeral care.
Co-operative Retail Services was the second-largest consumer co-operative society in the United Kingdom. In 2000, it was dissolved by its members, merging with the larger Co-operative Wholesale Society, to form the Co-operative Group (CWS) Ltd.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7000 registered co-operatives owned by 17 million individual members and which contribute £34bn a year to the British economy. Modern co-operation started with the Rochdale Pioneers' shop in the northern English town of Rochdale in 1844, though the history of co-operation in Britain can be traced back to before 1800. The British co-operative movement is most commonly associated with The Co-operative brand which has been adopted by several large consumers' co-operative societies; however, there are many thousands of registered co-operative businesses operating in the UK. Alongside these consumers' co-operatives, there exist many prominent agricultural co-operatives (621), co-operative housing providers (619), health and social care cooperatives (111), cooperative schools (834), retail co-operatives, co-operatively run community energy projects, football supporters' trusts, credit unions, and worker-owned businesses.
A consumers' co-operative is an enterprise owned by consumers and managed democratically and that aims at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of its members. 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. Consumers' cooperatives often take the form of retail outlets owned and operated by their consumers, such as food co-ops. However, there are many types of consumers' cooperatives, operating in areas such as health care, insurance, housing, utilities and personal finance.
United Co-operatives Limited, or simply United Co-op, is a now defunct regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, until its merger with the Co-operative Group in 2007. The society operated across Yorkshire, the North West and North Midlands of United Kingdom. In September 2002, it came about from the merger of United NorWest and Yorkshire Co-operative Society.
Southern Co-op is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The principal activities of the Society are food retailing and funerals. It operates over 200 convenience stores and 50 funeral homes, covering the southern English counties of Berkshire, Bristol, Devon, Dorset, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Somerset, Surrey, Sussex and Wiltshire. Southern Co-op society is owned by over 130,000 members who share in the business's profits and democratically control its operations. It was previously registered as an Industrial and Provident Society, but its status is now as a mutual society under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014.
The Penrith Co-operative Society Limited, known locally as Penrith Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1890 and at the time of its merger with Scotmid it operated one department store with supermarket attached and eight small supermarkets or convenience stores in Cumbria and County Durham.
Midlands Co-operative Society Limited was the second largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was a registered Industrial and Provident Society, a member of the Co-operative Union, the Co-operative Retail Trading Group and a corporate member of The Co-operative Group, the largest consumer co-operative in the world. The Society had over 200 stores, principally trading in the English Midlands. Head office was located in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
Musselburgh and Fisherrow Co-operative Society Limited was a retail consumer co-operative trading in the Scottish towns of Musselburgh and Dalkeith. It was founded as a co-operative in 1862, and, in 2007, joined the small number of UK co-operative retailers to demutualise.
Lothian, Borders & Angus Co-operative Society Limited , founded in 1839 in the Scottish Borders, was the oldest independent consumer co-operative in Scotland until it merged with The Co-operative Group in December 2008. It operated over 50 food stores in the south and east, as well as some other retail businesses, and funeral services. At the time of the merger, Lothian Co-op was owned by 65,000 consumer members on a one member one vote basis.
Northern Co-operative Society Limited, previously named Northern Co-operative Company Limited, was a local consumer co-operative trading in Aberdeen, Scotland, from 1861 to 1993. It operated supermarkets and other businesses throughout Aberdeenshire, and employed 2000 people in 1992.
Co-op Food is a brand used for the food retail business of The Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom.
The Chelmsford Star Co-operative Society is an independent consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom.
Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), operating as Co-op, is a co-operative federation providing procurement and distribution to member co-operatives in Western Canada. It was established in 1944 after a series of amalgamations of smaller cooperatives, starting in Saskatchewan, including the Saskatchewan Co-operative Wholesale Society and a fuel production and distribution co-op, the Consumers’ Co-operative Refinery Limited. Federated had expanded to Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia by 1970. Federated Co-operatives is owned by about 160 member co-operatives across the region. Some are large co-operatives, such as Saskatoon Co-op and Calgary Co-op, while others are small co-ops based in small towns, such as Abernethy Co-op.
Central England Co-operative is a regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom, based in Lichfield and which trades from over 400 sites across the English Midlands and East Anglia. The business is owned and democratically controlled by its members who can stand for election to the board and who also share in the society's profits. A proportion of the profits of the business are also invested in local community groups through its community dividend grants programme and its more than 60 member classes.
Tamworth Co-operative Society Limited is a small independent consumer co-operative in Tamworth, Staffordshire, England. The co-operative operates a department store, supermarket, 11 convenience stores, and eight funeral care locations, with over 20,000 members and an annual turnover in excess of £23m.
