Find Magazine Articles By Topic or Date

An archive of Cooperative Grocer magazine articles going back to 1985.

Use the Search field to find what you're looking for. Limit your search to specific topic areas, or publication date, or author, by using the drop-down lists. To sort chronologically, click on the Issue column header.

Titlesort icon Post date Issue
Sticker Shock and Accurate Rings
by Mark Mulcahy

I was standing in a produce department the other day stickering what seemed like thousands of tomatoes with little green stickers. A customer walked up and said, “Why do you do that? I hate...

19 Jan 2009 #133 November - December - 2007
Steps to Sustainability: It Takes Vision
by Annie Hoy

The founders of Ashland Food Co-op (AFC) in 1972 were guided by the ethics of a budding environmental movement. The impulse to operate a not-for-profit business in ways that honor and nurture...

04 Jun 2010 #148 May - June - 2010
Steps to Effective Store Design
by P.J. Hoffman

Download a pdf of this article

Is your co-op planning to expand, relocate or open a new store? The ideas outlined here are meant to make the process easier and more rewarding. I write from...

02 Jul 2009 #143 July - August - 2009
Steps to a Solidarity Economy
by Elizabeth Henderson

Cooperation among cooperatives is a basic principle of the co-op movement. In Kansas, New York, and Massachusetts, food co-ops are applying this concept in a creative way: providing deep and solid...

28 Aug 2011 #155 July - August - 2011
Step by Step, Creating a Cooperative Economy
by Adam Schwartz

From my vantage point, too many dollars flow out of cooperatively owned businesses into investor-held businesses, either in the form of purchases or investments.

Is your cooperative...

17 Mar 2011 #153 March - April - 2011
Staying Open
by Doug Walter

download pdf of article

Shutting your doors on customers and members doesn’t sound like a great idea. But staying open while swapping out all your shelves and most of your cases...

20 May 2009 #142 May - June - 2009
Staying Healthy in an Unhealthy Economy
by Mel Braverman

download pdf of article

20 May 2009 #142 May - June - 2009
Startup Technology Choices
by Jake Schlachter

Been called by a new food co-op for advice recently? The number of startup food cooperatives is swelling, and with it, the ranks of cooperative advisors.

09 Apr 2012 #159 March - April - 2012
Startup Co-op Conference Shares Resources
by

Indiana Cooperative Development Center (ICDC), a nonprofit agency supported by funding from the USDA, and Bloomingfoods Market and Deli recently partnered to host “Up and Coming, Up and Running...

04 Jun 2010 #148 May - June - 2010
Stalking the Organic Asparagus
by Cissy Bowman

Springtime is upon us, and with it comes fresh, organic produce from an increasing number of local growers. It is a benefit to these growers as well as to retailers and consumers for this...

07 Jan 2004 #100 May - June - 2002
Staff Teams Build Effective Solutions
by Terry Appleby

Introducing forms of participation to a traditional management hierarchy was the goal; a quality improvement process was the method. The history of Hanover Consumer Co-op and my...

08 Jan 2004 #080 January - February - 1999
Staff Education Prevents A Generation Gap
by John Corbett

A key Rochdale cooperative principle is continuing education about cooperatives. It is ironic that co-ops often forget to apply this principle to their own employees.

There are many...

09 Jan 2004 #049 November - December - 1993
St. Peter Food Co-op Chooses Flexibility in Reincorporation
by Stuart Reid

St. Peter Food Co-op in Minnesota ­reincorporated under Minn. 308b ­statutes, one of the first state limited cooperative associations (LCA) options, in 2007. They decided to make the change in...

08 Dec 2010 #151 November - December 2010
SPECIAL REPORT: Cooperative Grocers Associations
by Robynn ShraderBy Robynn Shrader

08 Jan 2004 #088 May - June - 2000
Space Case: Make It Count
by

Look down -- you may be standing on a gold mine. Then again, your facility may be just a black hole you throw money down once a month.

08 Jan 2004 #082 May - June - 1999
Soy Production Boosts Co-op
by Joan D’Argo

Back in the days when board meetings were held in the General Manager’s sauna, Oryana Natural Foods Market—a community co-op since 1973—experienced the birth of its tofu-making operations.

19 Jan 2009 #133 November - December - 2007
Sourcing with Integrity
by Steve Krusie

Since beginning as a two-person operation in 1976, Frontier Natural Products Co-op has specialized in natural and organic products. The business was originally structured as a cooperative that...

05 Oct 2010 #150 September - October 2010
Social Justice in Agriculture Forum
by Robynn Shrader

I recently had an opportunity to represent food co-ops at a forum for Social Justice in Agriculture, along with representatives from organizations representing farm workers, fair-trade initiatives...

21 Jan 2009 #116 January - February - 2005
Social Justice and New Food Co-ops
by Dave Gutknecht

Jobs and access to food are urgent needs in many communities. Two new and thought-provoking articles examine how social justice organizations are taking innovative paths to new co-op formation,...

18 Aug 2011 • Endcap Articles
Social Capital and Membership
by Dave Gutknecht

Social capital, as distinct from private capital, is a philosophical foundation of cooperatives and a kind of ultimate realization of our efforts. Social capital is what is owned...

20 Mar 2005 #068 January - February - 1997
Smile, Please, You're in Front of a Customer
by Bruce Palma

About a year ago, our major competitor held a focus group with some of its customers. We learned from several participants—longtime members of our co-op—that many people in the group told the...

04 Jun 2010 #148 May - June - 2010
Small Town, New Building
by Jerry McGeorge

Viroqua is an agricultural community with a population of 4,300, set in the unique landscape of southwestern Wisconsin. The glaciers that carved out the Great Lakes missed this region, leaving...

21 Jan 2009 #118 May - June - 2005
Small Town Success from Building Membership
by Mel Braverman

The small community of Barneveld, Wisconsin (population 1,100), opened its grocery cooperative, Harvest Market Cooperative, on July 10, 2004 and had its grand opening on July 24. The store has a...

27 Oct 2004 #114 September - October - 2004
Small Farms Create More Jobs
by Dave Gutknecht

Gene Logsdon is a wise and delightful writer on food and farming. Author of “The Contrary Farmer” essay collection, he also maintains a website under that name: http://www.thecontraryfarmer.com...

14 Sep 2011 • Endcap Articles
Small Co-op, Big Leap!
by Bob Copeland

After 28 years in the same location, Bluff Country Co-op's members made a large leap. The results: a beautiful new store and renewed belief in how a small co-op can do big things...

08 Jan 2004 #094 May - June - 2001