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

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A View from the CEO of National Co-op Bank
by Charles Snyder

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I am asked every day my opinion about the economy. Are we going to have another depression? When is the housing market going to turn around?

18 Jan 2009 #140 January - February - 2009
A World of Opportunity
by Dave Gutknecht

Declaring 2012 the International Year of Cooperatives received a rare unanimous vote from the UN General Assembly. This declaration offers a timely opportunity to promote cooperatives as a proven...

05 Oct 2011 #156 September - October - 2011
A Year Past Reorganization
by Robynn Shrader

Glancing back at articles in Cooperative Grocer magazine a year ago, I’m struck by how much has changed in just one year since the official reorganization of the former CGA system into the...

21 Jan 2009 #120 September - October - 2005
Abandoned Member Property Need Not Escheat to the State
by Lottie Cohen

Virtually every state has adopted a law similar to the Uniform Disposition of Unclaimed Property Act. 1 This article will outline how cooperatives have been affected by escheat laws and how one...

09 Jan 2004 #027 March - April - 1990
Abuse -- and Answers
by Dave Gutknecht

Themes from this edition on co-op managers, their boards of directors, and co-op members:

Retail management is a complex, demanding job: juggling product,...

09 Jan 2004 #067 November - December - 1996
Accounting Best Practices Primer Now Available
by

Accounting Best Practices for Food Co-ops: A Primer is now available, an excellent and concise (14-page) summary in four sections:  balance sheet, income statement, internal control, and cash...

15 Nov 2012 • Endcap Articles
Accounting Best Practices: Cash Management
by

Our vision for this accounting best practices series is to examine fundamental financial tools and best practices for co-ops that promote overall financial health and the ability to improve. In...

07 Aug 2012 #161 July - August - 2012
Accounting Best Practices: Internal Control
by

Summary: Our previous articles were on the balance sheet and the income statement. This article covers internal control. There will be a final article on cash management. Our vision for this...

09 Apr 2012 #159 March - April - 2012
Accounting Best Practices: Nurturing Your Income Statement
by

Summary: our previous article was on the balance sheet, and after our review below of the income statement, a subsequent installment will cover internal controls and cash management. Our vision...

18 Jan 2012 #158 January - February - 2012
Accounting Best Practices: The Balance Sheet
by

Can you tell me in 10 minutes what the best practices for finance are that I can use at my co-op?" This question has been repeatedly asked of us in our respective work with co-op finance managers...

17 Nov 2011 #157 November - December - 2011
Acquisition Nearly Doubles the U.K. Cooperative Footprint!
by David Thompson

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This July 14 the Co-operative Group in the United Kingdom purchased the Somerfield chain of 880 stores for approximately $3 billion dollars. Somerfield is the biggest...

27 Dec 2008 #138 September - October - 2008
Act Locally Against GMOs
by Ken Roseboro

With governments in the United States and Canada refusing to label foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMOs), several natural food retailers are taking matters into their own hands by...

29 Apr 2005 #117 March - April - 2005
Act Now on Allergens
by Michelle Schry

On January 1, 2006, new federal allergen labeling rules went into effect. People’s Food Co-op (La Crosse, Wis.) became aware of these new regulations on about December 15, 2005, when information...

20 Jan 2009 #124 May - June - 2006
Adding an E-Newsletter to the Media Mix
by Steve Stroup

We decided to develop an e-newsletter last fall for Bloomingfoods Market and Deli, with the goal of creating an appealing monthly information clearinghouse. It wasn’t our intention to write in-...

20 Jan 2009 #124 May - June - 2006
Adding Widgets, Blurring Accountability
by James Morgan

How does a board ensure achievement of a particular goal that’s not part of the Ends statement? Disregarding the question of whether it should do so at all, Heather Schmidt Albinger, in “Policy...

29 Jan 2007 #128 January - February - 2007
Additional Stores: Expanding "The Co-op"
by Bill Gessner

Food co-ops expanding from one to two stores must navigate a challenging and perilous course. This article will explore those challenges and obstacles and suggest a course of planning and...

19 Jan 2009 #134 Jan - Feb - 2008
Advertising: Taking the Alternate Route
by Ric Tedford

The very nature of the cooperative grocery business is far from the mainstream, as can be noted in the cooperative principles that guide the operation of our stores. But the...

08 Jan 2004 #088 May - June - 2000
Advocating for the Organic Community in the Farm Bill
by

Organic farmers, consumers and processors all have a direct stake in the outcome of the 2008 Farm Bill. That is why National Cooperative Grocers Association (NCGA), along with other members of the...

19 Jan 2009 #136 may - june - 2008
After the Deluge
by Cissy Bowman

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The summer of 2008 brought floods to the Midwest, the likes of which have never been seen in recorded history. Unending record rainfalls washed out roads, turned farm...

27 Dec 2008 #138 September - October - 2008
Against the Odds
by Art Ames

For 12 years, the Berkshire Co-op Market community discussed expanding its Great Barrington, Massachusetts store. Late in 2001, the board of directors began the project in earnest. A variety of...

27 Oct 2004 #114 September - October - 2004
Against the Tide
by Rochelle Prunty

River Valley Market in Northampton, Mass., opened in 2008, early in the current wave of new food co-ops and just before the start of the economic decline. Original sales projections had River...

20 Feb 2013 #164 Jan-Feb 2013
Against War: A Co-op Primer
by Dave Gutknecht

Editorial: Against War

07 Jan 2004 #105 March - April - 2003
Agile and Efficient: Board Committees and Committee Structures that Work
by Todd Wallace

The use of committees by boards is ubiquitous—as it should be, considering a small group’s agility when compared to a whole board. Unfortunately, boards often end up with...

20 Feb 2013 #164 Jan-Feb 2013
All Atwitter in Seattle
by Ellen Michel

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Marketing Matters 2009 took place at the Edgewater Hotel in Seattle, Wash., May 12–14, walking distance from the historic Pike Place Market. This annual...

02 Jul 2009 #143 July - August - 2009
All Your Board Can Be
by Paige Lettington

Whether you are a manager, staff, or a director, you will be happier and less frustrated when your co-op's board is operating smoothly. Board meetings that go on for hours,...

09 Jan 2004 #074 January - February - 1998