Enjoy the archive of Cooperative Grocer magazine, with articles going back to 1985.

Use our full site search to look for articles by author, title, or topic. Our archive goes back to 1985!

Also available in the archives is LEADer, the NCG Governance Newsletter

    Title Issue Date
    An Agreement for Disagreements
    BY Karen Zimbelman

    I wish I could say it is a rare occurrence, but unfortunately I get these disturbing calls all too often.

    		 075 March - April - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Disaster Preparedness
    BY Carolee Colter

    Disaster: a "bad star." That's the derivation of this ancient Greek word. If a comet is hurling toward the earth, or our sun goes super-nova, there is nothing to be done.

    		 079 November - December - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Understanding Distributor Dynamics
    BY George Southworth, John Hatton

    We see several positive trends of cooperation between stores and their distributors.

    		 075 March - April - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Economics 101: Sunk Costs and Opportunity Costs
    BY Scott Beers, Margaret Lund

    We think every day about what it costs to do different things -- 89 cents to buy a pound of organic bananas, seven dollars to see "Lethal Weapon 4," etc.

    		 079 November - December - 1998 January 9, 2004
    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.

    		 074 January - February - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Raising the Stakes?
    BY Scott Beers, Margaret Lund

    The ability to raise capital -- to collect a little bit from a lot of people and build something greater than anybody's bit could have built alone -- is one of the great strengths o

    		 076 May - June - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Finance Committee Finesse
    BY Scott Beers, Margaret Lund

    By Scott Beers and Margaret Lund

    One of the absolutely vital committees of any co-op board is the finance committee.

    		 075 March - April - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Knowing Your Mass Market Competition
    BY George Southworth

    		 074 January - February - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Mission Statement – or (Still) Missin' Statement?
    BY Dave Gutknecht

    Results of the Retail Operations Survey once again show strong growth and profitability by most food co-ops during the past year.

    		 077 July - August - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Educating Staff About Nutrition
    BY Ruth Blackburn

     

    Natural foods cooperatives have historically been leaders in providing education to staff, members and shoppers.

    		 079 November - December - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Building Financial Partnerships
    BY Sophia Raday, Kerinne McNicholas , Annie Donovan

    To be successful in today's competitive, global economy, you can't just be good at what you do. You have to be excellent. Natural food cooperatives are keenly aware of this.

    		 078 September - October - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Peruvian Percolator
    BY Dave Gutknecht

    Thanks to Rick Stewart and Frontier Natural Products Co-op, I just spent a week in Peru, where Frontier and an allied local group, the Institute for Sustainable Agriculture in the T

    		 078 September - October - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Using Policy Governance to Improve Board Leadership
    BY Marilyn Scholl

    Food cooperatives around the country are talking about Policy Governance -- a system of board leadership developed by John Carver.

    		 078 September - October - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Promoting Pre-order Sales:
    BY Aspen Olmstead
    Three years ago, members of the Syracuse (N.Y.) Real Food Cooperative were forced to vote on whether their retail co-op should declare bankruptcy.
    		 076 May - June - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Radio Marketing Can Be Cheap and Powerful
    BY Kelly Wiseman

    The last thing the average co-op manager has time for is figuring out the vagaries of radio.

    		 077 July - August - 1998 January 9, 2004
    Ends: Defining Your Cooperative Advantage
    BY Linda Stier

    		 097 November - December - 2001 January 8, 2004
    A Member Linkage Tool Builds Policy and Action
    BY Karen Zimbelman
    		 092 January - February - 2001 January 8, 2004
    Democracy Works
    BY Paul Cultrera
    Democracy Works
    		104 January - February - 2003 January 8, 2004
    Maintaining Co-op Democracy
    BY Ann Waterhouse

    As a member of the Willy Street Co-op board in Madison, Wisc., I'm interested in creative ways to stimulate member participation in our cooperative.

    		 098 January - February - 2002 January 8, 2004
    Helping Build a Thriving Future for Food Cooperatives
    BY Marilyn Scholl

    Long before "just do it" became part of the American lexicon, the teenaged Homer Hickam, inspired by the launch of Sputnik in 1957 and fueled by a desire to beat the Russians at the space race, dec

    		 102 September - October - 2002 January 8, 2004