James Hrynyshyn
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 17/01) - It took more than 18 years for the membership list at Yellowknife's Co-op to reach 1,600 households. It only took another 18 months to reach 2,500.

Terra Nystrom checks out a customer at Yellowknife Co-op. The store is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year and management is planning a major expansion. - Sarah Holland/NNSL photo

Factoring in the usual number of memberships surrendered by those moving out of town, that represents a growth rate of about 40 per cent, according to Co-op general manager John Taylor.

Explosive growth is good news for any business. But it also means Co-op staff find it difficult to meet the demands of all those new members.

The bakery, deli and produce sections all need more floor space, Taylor said Monday at the start of national Co-op Celebration Week. "It needs to at least double. There is more variety that we could carry if we had more space, especially in frozen foods."

To bring that about, a feasibility study for an expansion of the store, which includes a hardware section and gas bar, has just been launched. The Co-op board of directors is looking at increasing the size of the operation by a third, adding 16,000 more square feet, said Taylor.

Because the Co-op is in the habit of returning its profits to its members, such an expansion can only be brought about through a loan.

"It would require some additional financing, which would have to be approved by the members," Taylor said. "All we've done so far is identify the need and the obstacles to growth."

Construction isn't expected to begin until late 2002 at the earliest. But members can expect more immediate changes, including a reduction in fees to an across-the-board $1 per week, effective Jan. 1, 2002.

Individual members now pay $1.50 per week. The family rate is $4.50 per week. Members approved the new rates at last May's annual general meeting.

Taylor said the grocery store is also beginning to stock "industrial" sized items, like those offered by Costco, Price Club and other giant box stores in the south.

"The selection at the moment isn't all that large, but we're starting to carry whatever we can."

National trend

Yellowknife isn't the only scene of Co-op growth. Nationally, the idea of owning the store where you shop is "alive and well," said Abe Lowen of Federated Co-operatives, the umbrella organization that serves co-ops across the country.

It's not because people are more politically or ideologically inclined toward member-ownership shopping, said Lowen.

People just seem to understand the logic of buying from a store that keeps the profits at home, he said.

"It goes all the way up the line from producers to retailers," said Lowen, pointing out that when the Yellowknife Co-op buys Co-op brand products from the national office, it enjoys the same benefits as individual consumers who shop at their own store.

Approximately 900,000 Canadians are members of 300 retail co-ops, from Thunder Bay, Ont., to the West Coast.