Burnaby Co-op

Member Profile

Burnaby Consumer Services Co-operative began in the fall of 1980 when a few members of the recently closed Community Consumers Co-op met to discuss ways they could continue to buy co-operatively.

Led by Helen Marsen, Stuart McBurnie, Lin Latham, Tom Frietas, and Bob Smith, they decided to form a co-operative buying club, wrote a set of by-laws, and after many meetings submitted it to the Registrar of Co-operatives The Co-op was incorporated on January 19th, 1981 and placed its first order in February. Combined net savings from that first order was 1.52!.

After more than 25 years, total sales have finally reached $1 million during 2000 and we have been able to return over $50,000 in patronage rebates.

Burnaby Co-op sells a great variety of goods.

Its main lines are still dry groceries, but now must be added frozen foods, nonperishable natural foods, and naturally grown beef, without antibiotics or growth hormones in its feed. Each fall we have a fresh blueberry sale and a fresh salmon sale if there have been any open fishing days on the Fraser River. The blueberries and beef come from Fraser Valley farmers with close ties to the Co-op movement and the salmon from a well known union fisherman in Ladner. From the earliest days we have sold all sorts of hardware by preorder, but now we also sell large amounts of socks, underwear, beds, appliances, TV sets, motor oil, feed, vitamins, and homeopathic drugs.

Visit online: www.burnabyco-op.ca