A Little Local Co-op History
Did you happen to catch Kindersley and District Co-op’s Throwback Thursday on Facebook where they took us down memory lane to when a branch of the Kindersley Co-operative Association Limited was established in Eatonia?
They shared that in the early days, the Eatonia Co-operative was a strong presence in the community. However, after a vote from its members, the Eatonia Co-operative made the decision to dissolve. But the story doesn’t end there, because the Kindersley Co-operative Association Ltd. saw an opportunity and stepped in. They rented the facilities and purchased the inventories, allowing the Eatonia Food Store to become part of the Kindersley Co-operative family!
So after learning this little bit of history about our area’s local Co-op we began to wonder about the history of Co-op as a whole?
After some searching we found that Co-op started with a need and an idea that business can be done differently. Co-ops were built by the people for the people, often offering products and services where others wouldn’t. Despite some struggles in the early 1900s, local co-ops were able to succeed as people became familiar with the co-operative movement and co-operative wholesale societies were formed.
The oldest association in under the Co-op umbrella – the Co-operative Retailing System – is Sointula Co-op in British Columbia, and was founded in 1909. More than 70 per cent of local co-op associations have been operating in those communities for more than 75 years.
The CO-OP® brand products began being developed in the 1940s with new offerings continuing to be developed to this day. The CO-OP® logo was developed in 1957 as red letters framed by a green shield. The all-red logo we know today wasn’t introduced until 1974.
Photos and source: Kindersley Co-op, Co-op.crs
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