Walden Swanson

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CDS Consulting Co-op

Walden Swanson has been involved with food co-ops since the early 1970s. He has managed both retails and wholesales and has worked extensively as a consultant with food co-ops. Walden currently manages CoCoFiSt (Common Cooperative Financial Statements), a project that compiles, analyzes and compares financial and operating data from co-ops around the country. The purpose of CoCoFiSt is to enable cooperatives to improve operations faster than the competition.

Author's Articles

Title	Issue	Date
Cooperative Grocer 1999 Retail Operations Survey BY Dave Gutknecht, Walden Swanson We are pleased to present the new Retail Operations Survey, which reports double digit growth in co-op sales during the past year, along with higher than ever gross margins.	089 July - August - 2000	May 31, 2006
2000 Retail Operations Survey: Statistical Summary BY Dave Gutknecht, Peg Nolan, Walden Swanson Cooperative Grocer 2000 Retail Operations Survey Statistical Summary of Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Ratios SMALL	095 July - August - 2001	May 31, 2006
Ratios Rectified—and a Rebate Request BY Walden Swanson Alert readers Joe Golton from Ashland Food Co-op and John Foley from Outpost Natural Foods Co-op found mistakes in the Return on Equity and the Return on Assets ratios in the Operations Report tabl	115 November - December - 2004	February 11, 2005
How to Critique a Business Plan BY Walden Swanson "Business plans may be great for bankers and investors, but if companies really followed them, you might never have heard of Compaq, Lotus, or Ben & Jerry's." This quote is from "The Best-Laid	010 April - May - 1987	January 9, 2004
What Good Is A Business Plan? BY Mary Myers, Walden Swanson Editor's note: This article is the first in a series of three articles on Business Plans for co-ops.	038 January - February - 1992	January 9, 2004
Business Plans: Doing the Groundwork BY Mary Myers, Walden Swanson This article Is the second in a series on business planning, based on the how-to manual Business Planning for Cooperatives, by Cooperative Development Services.	040 May - June - 1992	January 9, 2004
Analyzing Your Store's Systems BY Mary Myers, Walden Swanson This is the third in a series of articles based on Business Planning For Cooperatives, a manual published by Cooperative Development Services that provides step by step Inst	042 September - October - 1992	January 9, 2004
Are You Experienced? BY Walden Swanson Want some good news? Co-op store productivity increased in the third quarter of 1998, when compared to the third quarter of 1997. (See Graph 1.)	081 March - April - 1999	January 8, 2004
Human Resources Survey Gives a Close Look at Co-op Compensation BY Walden Swanson, Dave Gutknecht This is the first of an annual Cooperative Grocer Human Resources Survey report. The survey is designed to help co-ops evaluate their HR and compensation practices.	093 March - April - 2001	January 8, 2004
2000 Retail Operations Survey BY Walden Swanson, Peg Nolan, Dave Gutknecht	095 July - August - 2001	January 8, 2004
Human Resources Survey BY Dave Gutknecht, Peg Nolan, Walden Swanson This is the second annual Cooperative Grocer Human Resources (HR) Survey report.	100 May - June - 2002	January 7, 2004
Strong Results, Debatable Future: 2001 Retail Operations Survey BY Peg Nolan, Patricia Cumbie, Walden Swanson, Dave Gutknecht	101 July - August - 2002	January 7, 2004

Walden Swanson

Author's Articles

Cooperative Grocer 2000 Retail Operations Survey

Statistical Summary of Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Ratios