Consumer cooperatives
Topic: Tertiary, Quaternary and Quinary Activities · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 6 "Tertiary and Quaternary Activities"
Meaning
Consumer cooperatives are shops owned by their customers, who are called members. They were the first large-scale innovation in retail, meaning the first big new way of running shops. The idea began with the Rochdale Pioneers in England in 1844. Members do not keep the profit as owners of a private shop would. Instead, it goes back to them as dividends, which are payments based on how much each member has bought.
Example
Kendriya Bhandar in Delhi and Apna Bazar in Mumbai are consumer cooperatives. They sell groceries and household goods to their members and the public at fair prices.
Don't confuse with
- Chain stores: these are owned by a company that keeps the profit. A consumer cooperative is owned by its members and shares the profit with them.