The Fredericton Co-op first opened its doors in 1974 and its membership has grown steadily since then.
More than 10,000 families now call themselves members, said branch manager Paul King.
“We are here because of the support of our members,” he said.
King has been working in grocery stores since he was 16 years old, bagging groceries at a Co-op store in Labrador City.
“It’s an amazing career,” King says of his life in the grocery business, where he worked his way up to become store manager in Fredericton.
“It’s a family. You believe in the format, you believe in what it does.”
Paul King is the manager of the Fredericton Co-op and has worked in Co-op stores since he was 16. (CBC/Shane Folwer)
A co-op store is not an ordinary store. Because it is a cooperative, only members can shop there by paying into the store and thus becoming part owners.
“When you become a member, you become an owner,” King said.
It costs $10 to join, plus an additional 2% on all goods purchased until the total reaches $1,000. This amount goes into the member’s equity and is used as an investment in the business.
There is also a service fee of $1 per week, which is used for overhead costs such as maintenance and staff.
King said the membership model has not changed in more than 50 years.
To shop there, customers must be members of the cooperative and pay into the company under a special payment plan that hasn’t changed in 50 years. (Sam Farley/CBC)
With price increases in grocery stores across Canada, King says Co-op stores are constantly trying to improve to provide better service to their members.
“What has changed is the landscape. That means there are new players in the market and more and more new competition. That makes us smarter and gives us more opportunities to offer more to our members,” he said.
“It’s never easy in retail, but we believe we can hold our own and continue to grow.”
He said the store employs up to 100 people, depending on the time of year. He said the store also helps keep prices low at other stores in the city.
King said they always try to meet customers’ needs by offering a wide variety of products. (Sam Farley/CBC)
An “invisible alternative”
Karen Miner, administrative director of the International Centre for Cooperative Management at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, says co-op stores of all kinds offer an “invisible alternative” to shopping.
“It’s a systemic problem in some ways because most people don’t know that there are co-ops in their neighborhood and that they are part of the strength of their community,” Miner said.
“And the more people realize that, the better it is, in my opinion.”
Miner said cooperative grocery stores benefit their members because excess profits at the end of the year go entirely to the store or members, rather than going as profit to the manager and investors, as would be the case with a larger grocery chain.
Karen Miner said the Fredericton Co-op must be doing something right to last 50 years. (Sam Farley/CBC)
“This way, the extra profit stays entirely within the community and the members can decide together what they want to do with the money that is left over at the end of the year,” she said.
Miner also said that co-ops are run not by pure profitability but by the needs of their members. While other grocery stores pull out of rural areas because they don’t make enough profit, the success of a co-op is determined by how well it meets the needs of its members.
Miner believes the Fredericton Co-op must have been so successful to have lasted so long.
“As they celebrate their 50th anniversary, I expect they’ve found a way to stay relevant and that they have a member base that is either getting better prices on things or is able to source the products they want.”
