Consumers' Cooperative of Berkeley
Encyclopedia
Consumers' Cooperative of Berkeley (CCB, also known as Berkeley Co-op) was a consumers' cooperative
which operated from 1939 to 1988, when it collapsed due to internal governance issues and bankruptcy
. During its height, it was the largest cooperative of its kind in North America, with over 100,000 members, and its collapse has provoked intellectual discussion over how food cooperatives should be operated.
The CCB evolved out of the Berkeley Buyers' Club, formed on January 27, 1936 by a small group of families active in Upton Sinclair
's EPIC
and local Democratic Party clubs. In the beginning the co-op operated out of the basement of the parsonage of a local Methodist minister, Roy Wilson, in cooperation with another buyers' club formed seven weeks earlier in Oakland, California
. In April 1937 60 families in the local clubs joined forces to open the CCB's first store at 2491 Shattuck Avenue.
By the end of 1937 the store had moved into larger premises on University Avenue, and by 1939 the co-op had grown to 225 families, with sales of $700 a week. In 1957 it was the second largest urban cooperative in the United States, with 6,000 member families, and by 1963 there were 30,000 families enrolled and several stores in operation.
Consumers' cooperative
Consumer cooperatives are enterprises owned by consumers and managed democratically which aim at fulfilling the needs and aspirations of their members. They operate within the market system, independently of the state, as a form of mutual aid, oriented toward service rather than pecuniary profit...
which operated from 1939 to 1988, when it collapsed due to internal governance issues and bankruptcy
Bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal status of an insolvent person or an organisation, that is, one that cannot repay the debts owed to creditors. In most jurisdictions bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor....
. During its height, it was the largest cooperative of its kind in North America, with over 100,000 members, and its collapse has provoked intellectual discussion over how food cooperatives should be operated.
The CCB evolved out of the Berkeley Buyers' Club, formed on January 27, 1936 by a small group of families active in Upton Sinclair
Upton Sinclair
Upton Beall Sinclair Jr. , was an American author who wrote close to one hundred books in many genres. He achieved popularity in the first half of the twentieth century, acquiring particular fame for his classic muckraking novel, The Jungle . It exposed conditions in the U.S...
's EPIC
End Poverty in California movement
Standing for End Poverty in California, EPIC was an effort for well-known muckraking writer and former Socialist Upton Sinclair to implement socialist reforms through California's Democratic Party during the Great Depression by recruiting supporters into the party and then securing that party's...
and local Democratic Party clubs. In the beginning the co-op operated out of the basement of the parsonage of a local Methodist minister, Roy Wilson, in cooperation with another buyers' club formed seven weeks earlier in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. In April 1937 60 families in the local clubs joined forces to open the CCB's first store at 2491 Shattuck Avenue.
By the end of 1937 the store had moved into larger premises on University Avenue, and by 1939 the co-op had grown to 225 families, with sales of $700 a week. In 1957 it was the second largest urban cooperative in the United States, with 6,000 member families, and by 1963 there were 30,000 families enrolled and several stores in operation.
External links
- Guide to the records of the Consumers Cooperative of Berkeley at The Bancroft Library