When Cootamundra faced shop closures and a declining town centre, its residents took decisive action. In August 2020, 80 locals gathered to explore an innovative solution: a community-owned co-operative retail store. With guidance from Anthony Taylor of the Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, a Steering Committee was quickly formed to move the idea forward. […]

Finland is one of most cooperative countries in the world, with almost 4 million cooperative members out of a total population of 5.4 million. Over 1.9 million of them are members of the Suomen Osuuskauppojen Keskuskunta (SOK) Corporation, also known as the S Group, a union of 22 regional retail and service cooperatives. The S […]

There is an old Slovak saying, gold without wisdom is but clay. The same saying could be said to apply to the COOP Jednota, Slovakia’s largest domestic retail chain. Through the control and oversight of its member base it has been able to expand through a growth strategy implemented in 1990 and followed through with […]