CO-OPERATIVE VENTURE.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 100, 17 June 1911, Page 7

CO-OPERATIVE VENTURE.

A groat co-operative concern has just ijCCii estaolisned in A;cw ioik; ■IS m reply ti) the continued increase in Inc cost of living through the _operation of tlio trusts. ’I no United Stores Association includes about t'.UU,UUU families, each having pledged i tee I i to pmvlia.se all its goods thii/iigli the organisation. Among toe incomers arc sonic fUDf) oi tiie smaller ictail dealers of the city, and tiie a, lops of tnc.se people are to he the channels throngn which goods will lie distributed in the first instance. ■J'nccj rebaileis will use the machinery of tiie Association in dealing with the wholesale market, and it is claimed that since they will imy very large lines as «• result of tno combination of forces, they will bo able to secure the most advantageous forms. Often they ...1! deal direct with ilie factories, rlius* eliminating the middleman altogether. Tno promoters of this veilu:rc have made it understood that the Association will cater for working JlGiocl wants are comparatively simple. No largo initial outlay has peon required, but if tno scheme is found to work satisfactorily, stops may be taken to acquire and operate big central ‘‘department stores,” which could work in conjunction with the small suburban shops. In the meantime, however, the now body is really an association of retailors, who w ill make special concessions in prices to constant customers. The question still to fits answered is whether any considerable advantage can ho gained in the wholesale market over the huge retail concerns which already exist in Now York. The experts seem disposed to believe that retail profits have been cut as low as possible, and that the cause of high prices is to be found among the producers and manufacturers, wiio are often controlled directly by the trusts. v v