 | |
| Type | Consumer co-operative |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail and wholesale |
| Predecessor | Co-operative Wholesale Society |
| Founded | 1957 (1933 as CWS Retail) |
| Defunct | 2000 |
| Successor | The Co-operative Group |
| Headquarters | Rochdale , United Kingdom |
Co-operative Retail Services (CRS, originally CWS Retail) 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.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (October 2010) |
In 1933, CWS formed a retail division tasked with taking over failing retail consumer co-operatives, and setting up shop in new areas. This division was demerged to form Co-operative Retail Services during 1957. [1] The demerger was prompted by complications with CWS's democratic governance: it was becoming a larger retailer in its own right but it was a secondary co-operative, owned by other co-operatives, meaning the retail division's customers had little representation on the board. However elections were still held with rival political groups standing, such as the 1960 Committee which attempted to give a more left-wing leadership to the London Region of CRS.
CRS expanded and opened up new co-op shops in the "co-op deserts" of the south-east and south-west of England where co-operative activity had historically been low. The CRS was also charged with rescuing failing societies and from the 1950s it began to an increasing number of loss-making co-ops, to the point where the CRS itself began to become loss-making. At which point the Co-operative Wholesale Society began to become the default rescuer of failing co-ops after it had itself absorbed the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society, which brought the CWS back to operating its own retail division, in 1973. [2]
During the mid-1990s, CRS began an ambitious investment programme. The society saw the CWS-led Co-op brand as old and out-dated and began a huge refurbishment programme of its ageing and neglected stores under a new 'Co-operative' identity. Slow to adopt the commonplace EPoS systems for its tills, [3] and still pricing products individually rather than using barcode scanners, it also invested in information technology.
In 2000, these changes and improvements were overtaken by events, as CRS was merged back into CWS to form The Co-operative Group. Over the following few years, the re-branding efforts were temporarily reversed as stores and own brand goods were converted into CWS-designed formats – which included the 1993 version of the 1968 CWS four leaf clover "Co-op" logo. However, in 2005, the movement's re-branding programme reintroduced the name Co-operative to these stores. In 2016, however, The Co-operative Group reverted to a version of the 1968 logo.
The largest proportion of the business (93% of all sales) was devoted to food retailing in over 500 stores. The society had a wide range of stores including superstores (15,000sq ft+), medium-sized supermarkets (5,000-15,000 sq ft) and small convenience stores (<5,000 sq ft). At the end of the 1990s, superstores and supermarkets were branded 'Co-operative Pioneer' (a nod to the movement's heritage of the Rochdale Pioneers) while most smaller convenience stores would carry the 'Co-operative Local' brand. Previously, CRS had used a variety of brands, including Leo's, Market Fresh and Stop & Shop.
In the 1990s, CRS led a grocery buying group, the Consortium of Independent Co-operatives (CIC) which was independent of the CWS-led Co-operative Retail Trading Group (CRTG). Several of the larger regional co-operatives of the time were members: Portsea, Scotmid, United, and Yorkshire. In 1998, the CIC supplied £1 billion of goods annually, and the CRTG £2.5 billion. The collapse of CIC, in 1998, coincided with the retirement of CRS chief executive Harry Moore, who had opposed proposals to merge CRS with the CWS. [4]
The society operated a number of department stores based in town and city centres. Most of these stores ultimately carried the 'Living' brand. Department stores were located in: Bangor, Barnsley, Barnstaple, Basildon, Bath, Birkenhead, Blackwood, Boscombe, Bridgend, Bristol (Fairfax House) [5] Burnley (previously known as Pendle House), Bury St. Edmunds, Cambridge, Cardiff, Chippenham, Colwyn Bay, Crawley, Doncaster (Danum House), Halifax, Hammersmith, Hemel Hempstead, Hereford, Herne Bay, Huddersfield, Leeds, Leigh, Letchworth, Llandudno, Llanelli, Merthyr Tydfil, Nelson (previously known as Quality House), [6] Newmarket, Pembroke Dock, Pontefract, Reading, Romford, Scunthorpe, St Austell, Stevenage, Stratford, Swansea, Taunton, Trowbridge, Wells, Weston-super-Mare (previously known as Fairfax House), Weymouth, Worcester, Wrexham, Yeovil.
Larger, out-of-town stores carrying a larger range of lines - but no clothing or cosmetics - carried the 'Co-operative HomeWorld' brand. These stores were located in: Carn Brea, Catcliffe, Coventry, Exeter, Filton, Bristol, Hedge End, Rochdale, Talbot Green and Merthyr Tydfil- Leo's Home Centre
In April 1999, CRS announced the closure of all its fifty non-food department stores, [7] ten of which being the Homeworld stores were sold to Kingfisher, for conversion into Big W (Woolworth) and B&Q stores. [8]
In conjunction with Household and Electrical departments, the operation also ran its own credit finance facility, and rental operation. Rentals included televisions and fridges (gas and electric) . [9]
| | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2008) |
At one point the "Co-op" buried more people than any other funeral director.
The society operated ten car dealerships with 835 staff in the Cambridge area under the Herbert Robinson name. [10] Herbert Robinson had been a business of the former Cambridge & District Co-operative Society, that transferred engagements to CRS in 1991. In 2000, these sites were absorbed into CWS's much larger Priory Motor Group, which at the time had 18 dealerships on 12 sites. [10] Priory was broken up and sold by the Co-operative Group in 2005.
Somerfield was a chain of small to medium-sized supermarkets operating in the United Kingdom. The company also previously owned the Kwik Save chain of discount food stores. The company was taken over by the Co-operative Group on 2 March 2009 in a £1.57 billion deal, creating the UK's fifth-largest food retailer. The Somerfield name was replaced by the Co-operative brand in a rolling programme of store conversions ending in summer 2011.
The Co-operative Group Limited, trading as Co-op, is a British consumer co-operative with a group of retail businesses including grocery retail and wholesale, legal services, funerals and insurance retailing.
The United Kingdom is home to a widespread and diverse co-operative movement, with over 7,000 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. Many cooperatives, however, do have a degree of profit orientation. Just like other corporations, some cooperatives issue dividends to owners based on a share of total net profit or earnings ; or based on a percentage of the total amount of purchases made by the owner. Regardless of whether they issue a dividend or not, most consumers’ cooperatives will offer owners discounts and preferential access to good and services.
United Co-operatives Limited, or simply United Co-op, was a 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.
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.
Nisa Retail Limited is a brand and groceries wholesaler operating in the United Kingdom. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Co-operative Group Limited. It was formerly a mutual organisation owned by its members and operating "...like a co-operative, using the collective buying power of the large group of members to negotiate deals with suppliers".
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
The Co-operative Commission was an independent commission set up by Tony Blair at the request of leaders of the British co-operative movement. Its aim was to review the strategy and structures of the sector, with an aim to suggesting ways to develop and modernise the movement, and its members comprised "business leaders, politicians, trade unionists and co-operators" under the chairmanship of the General Secretary of the TUC. It was the second review of its kind in the entire history of the Co-operative Movement.
The Clydebank Co-operative Society Limited is the smallest consumers' co-operative in Scotland, based in the town of Clydebank near Glasgow. Along with Scotmid and The Co-operative Group, it is one of three consumer co-operative retail societies in Scotland, and the only one not merged into a regional or national society.
Radstock Co-operative Society is a small regional consumer co-operative, which was established in Radstock, Somerset, England in 1868 and today operates twenty food stores and across Somerset alongside a 1000 acre farm. It is owned and democratically controlled by its customer members, who numbered approximately 7000 in 2014. The society grew from a turnover of £15 million in 2006 to over £35m by 2016, doubling the number of stores over the period. The business has held the Fair Tax Mark since 2016.
Federal Retail and Trading Services (FRTS) is the central buying group for co-operative retail societies in the United Kingdom. It came into its current structure in 2015, though its predecessor was established in 1993, and it supplies almost all food bought for sale by the over 4,000 co-operative foodstores in the UK. The buying group is owned and controlled by each of its member societies but is managed by The Co-operative Group on their behalf. It operates by pooling the collective £8.5bn buying power for 18 co-operative societies in the UK, allowing them to negotiate better prices from suppliers, so as to compete effectively with other UK supermarket chains.
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.
Anglia Regional Co-operative Society Limited was the fifth largest consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. It was formed by the merger of the Greater Peterborough Regional and Anglia co-operative societies in 1987. The Society had over 80 stores, principally trading in East Anglia. Head office was located at Westgate House, Peterborough until 2011.
The Moulton Co-operative Society Limited, or simply Moulton Co-op, was a small regional consumer co-operative in the United Kingdom. The society was formed in 1861 and operated a single supermarket in Moulton, Northamptonshire. In January 2009, members voted overwhelmingly to transfer arrangements to Midlands Co-operative Society, which took effect on 8 February 2009.
The Co-operative, also known as Co-op, is a brand used by a variety of co-operatives based in the United Kingdom. It is not a single business, but a number of different consumers' co-operatives spanning various sectors.
The Co-operative Travel is a travel agency brand used by some independent retail co-operatives in the United Kingdom, such as Midcounties Co-operative, through their access to The Co-operative brand. Between 2011 and 2016 the brand was also used by TCCT Retail Limited, a travel agency run as a joint venture between the Thomas Cook Group, The Co-operative Group and Central England Co-operative.
The Channel Islands' Co-operative Society is a long-established consumer co-operative with stores in the Channel Islands. Its head office is located in Saint Helier in Jersey.
Big W was a British retail chain owned by the Kingfisher Group in the United Kingdom, which operated between 1998 and 2004. Big W stores were large format out-of-town megastores that featured products from all of Kingfisher's main retail chains at the time, consisting of Comet, B&Q, Superdrug and Woolworths.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link){{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)Kingfisher has bought 10 Homeworld stores from Co-operative Retail Services for £80m, and plans to convert four into the Big W general merchandise format and two into B&Q Warehouses
| Investor-owned chains |
|
|---|---|
| Co-operative societies | |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
