The Spirit of Generosity: Co-ops need to plant and nourish the seeds of future cooperation
By Bill Gessner 111 March - April - 2004 The collective progress in collaboration that the food co-op sector has achieved over the past decade has been significant and inspiring. “Cooperation among cooperatives,” through the [...]
Empowerment + Accountability = Success (and Fun)
In mission-based organizations like co-ops, the empowerment of individuals and groups is highly valued. For groups carrying out projects in such associations, organizational process is often as important as the outcome. Ideally, the co-op’s development [...]
The Ownership Toolbox
by Karen Zimbelman and Marilyn Scholl A Tool for Building Strong Co-op Membership Programs Any store can provide natural foods—just like any financial institution can provide checking accounts. Therefore, for a co-op, a strong supportive [...]
Helping Build a Thriving Future for Food Cooperatives
By Marilyn Scholl 102 September - October - 2002 Long before "just do it" became part of the American lexicon, the teenaged Homer Hickam, inspired by the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and fueled by [...]
Your New Store: Meeting First Year Challenges
By Bill Gessner 099 March - April - 2002 You have successfully navigated the stormy waters of a relocation/expansion project. Your co-op has proudly opened the new store amidst celebration, praise, relief, adrenaline and exhaustion. [...]
Community Mercantile Meets Compressed Timeline
By Jeanie Wells, Nancy O'Connor 096 September - October - 2001 When you last read about Community Mercantile Co-op in Lawrence, Kansas, we had just barely survived Wild Oats coming to town. The article in [...]
Making Co-ops A Great Place to Work
By Marilyn Scholl, Carolee Colter 088 May - June - 2000 What we love most about co-ops is the emphasis on people. Food co-ops are businesses that operate on a human scale, valuing individual voices--whether [...]
Expansions and Relocations Toolbox
Planning and implementing a successful expansion or relocation for your natural foods cooperative is a major undertaking that always involves risk. As the natural foods marketplace is experiencing rapid change and growth, retail natural food [...]
Conducting Member Loan Campaigns
By Bill Gessner 086 January - February - 2000 Cooperatives need to pursue debt capital from members through the creation of member loan programs and member loan drives. The purpose of this article is to [...]