GENESIS OF A CONSUMER CO-OPERATIVE

Littleton businessmen Jeff Wheeler and Michael Claflin think North County consumers pay too much for their groceries and have too little choice.

And about a year and a half ago, they came up with a plan. “Right around Thanksgiving time we were lamenting the options for shopping and it suddenly struck us that maybe it would be worthwhile to try and see whether we could get something going in the form of a coop.”

It was a Judy Garland and Mickey Rooney moment: Let’s put on a show.

Now, in addition to their real jobs, Wheeler is president of the Littleton Consumer Cooperative Society and Claflin is vice president. They have no paid staff, but dozens of volunteers. And they’re making progress.

Even with no store to shop in yet, The Littleton co-op has more than 650 dues-paying members. It has a deal pending to buy a four-acre site at the corner of Route 302 and Cottage Street and a contractor ready to build. They’ve got a half million dollar grant from the New Hampshire Community Development Finance Authority.

“Someone will throw you a curveball every now and then but for the most part we have been very, very fortunate. Everybody has been upbeat, everybody has been, ‘Well if we can’t do it that way we will do it this way.’ So far, we have done quite well.”

But they are facing a critical challenge. That grant money depends on getting $450,000 in loans from co-op supporters. So far they are just over halfway there, but the deadline is September 1st. If that grant doesn’t come through then local banks will reconsider their promise of about 3 million dollars.

That money is needed to build the their 13 thou,500 square foot building.

Anne Reynolds is the assistant director at the University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.

She says starting a coop is typically a struggle.

“Most people who work in coop development would say that cooperatives are perhaps harder to start than any other type of business but once they have been started their chance of success is greater than your typical small business.” Much of Claflin’s and Wheeler’s inspiration comes from down river in Hanover. There, the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society has been hugely successful.

SOUND OF PEOPLE SHOPPING AND STORE BUSTLE

This co-op was founded in 1936 during the depression. Then, seventeen families banded together, hoping to improve their purchasing power. Now, the Hanover Co-op has 300 employees, and they added a store in Lebanon in 1997.

Last year they did $66 million in business. Of that, nearly 3 quarters of a million dollars came back in profits. And members shared more than half a million dollars in refunds based on how much they spent during the year.

Littleton plans to operate under the same, classic co-op philosophy. That, says Anne Reynolds at the Center for Cooperatives, means giving the consumer the most for their money instead of trying to maximize profits. Reynolds: “They don’t have any incentive really to do anything except respond to their members needs and that takes that predatory aspect out of their business philosophy.” Another example of how a coop’s philosophy can be different shows up in The Lebanon store’s decision not to have a bakery.

Members considered baking in-house, but decided it would hurt local bakeries and consequently the community economy. Allan Reetz is a Hanover co-op spokesman.

“By making the choice not to build a bakery it might have hurt our bottom line a little bit but we also knew we would have great breads to offer members and customers alike and it is a better business practice for the health of the business community.”

Wheeler and Claflin want the Littleton coop to have the same kind of relationship with local businesses and farmers. They say the Littleton co-op should support the local economy, not try to dominate it. And by keeping their profit margins as low as possible they hope to keep prices down. If everything goes well the Littleton co-op hopes to open the store late this year or early in 2009.