The Birmingham age-herald., 1906-02-11
COLLEGE STORES
 PROVE 4 SUCCESS
But They Are Not Liked by
 Local TradeSmen
STUDENTS ARE CUSTOMERS
Harvard Has the Largest Store, With Annual Sales of $500 oooo-A Chain of College Stores
 Being Planned.
From the New York snn.


 College cooperative stores have been tried with some success. They are man aged by professors and students, who di- vide any surplus at the end of the year 1 among the members, who are also GUS toner's The goods are sold at cost plus an amount sufficient to cover the eX- pense of moving and handling the stock.
 Two common factors to interfere with l the success of the college cooperative store are lack of capital and the united opposition of the resident tradesmen, who more than once have combined to sell below cost to wipe out the venture of the students This object attained prices go up again.
 Adequate capital does not mean always a great sum of nancy. rich man would consider the $500 that set in motion the University of Michigans cooperative store bagatelle yet in the first year the sales were s5.0O0 and in the fifth $S00O0. l Each year a rebate of 10 per cent has been paid to the members on their pur- chases.
 The store handles books stationery, dra wing supplies and athletic goods. Eight professors advanced S100 each and made possible the start of this store in 1899. The university furnished room, with heat and light. free of charge. There was a dividend the first year and the money lent was paid back Since 1 then the store has been absolutely owned l by the students.
 Shares are sold at $1 each, share en- titling the purchaser to yearly rebate | on goods bought by him during his course at the Michigan university. The manage ment is under the supervision of nine di- rectors, five from the faculty and four students. The term of each is three years and three members are elected | each year at a meeting of the sharehold- ! CTS.
 Harvard's Society.
 Harvard's cooperative society began in a small way in 1882 1t has attained a yearly membership of BOO and does a business of $S00,000
 It is conducted by officers and students os Harvard university for the benefit of the student body, and conducts a store with departments for the sale of books. sta ationery mems furnishings, sporting and athletic goods, furniture, clothing coal and wood There is also laundry.
 In the twentyfour years of it's exist ence the society has paid more than $lO0,- 1 00o in dividends. The annual membership fee is S1. Members receive dividend each year. based on the amount of their purchases
 Members of Harvard university, Rad cliffe college and the Episcopal Theologi- cal school are eligible for membership. Graduates are also eligible, even if they do not live at Cambridge, although the | first object is to reduce the cost of living at the university by affording extra facil- tiles or the purchase of all kinds of stu dents supplies.
 There has been a cooperative store at Yale since 1885, but for the first five years l only members-that Is, ticket holders could buy at it. In 1S90-91 this restriction became a dead letter and the stock was held open to all.
 Two prices were marked on the goods, l that for non-members being the current price in the New Haven stores. and the other price as much less as the co-opera- tive could afford. The difference was from to 9 per cent. The surplus each 1 year is added to the capital, so that the stock now inventories about $20000 of salable merchandise.
 No Dividends at Yale.
 Members do not receive dividends at Yale, but they buy cheaper than the Har- yard "co-ops." The present membership is 14OO and the tickets cost s2. In the first college year the sales amounted to $1545. The second year they | jumped to $7633. and with the withdrawal of the restrictions against non-members the receipts increased to ST, BIO The busi- ness grows steadily. In 1S95-96 the sales were $32 1S6; in 19OO-O1, $4S,362, and in 1904 05, $60504.
 l A work of general good to the student l body done by the cooperative stores, 1t l is declared, is that the competition keeps 1 down the prices of local tradesmen. The | tradesmen in the small places wage a vigorous war against the cooperate stores and when the latter are not well supplied with capital they have sometimes had to suspend.
 l The ''co-op'' stores are always run by | Heb, hoe Io1 to more than one vigorous clash between 1 the town and gown The local trades men, while complaining against cut prices, l do not make special campaign against cooperative stores in the larger college | towns. but do their best to get share of | the college trade by offering special in- ducements in lines of goods on which they have no opposition.
 The lack of capital has initiated against there are affiliated cooperative stores at some of the smaller colleges, and at the l large colleges there has been difficulty in disposing of stock no longer in demand through some Whim of the season or be- cause shopworn. To meet both difficult 1 ties an organization has been brought | into the field to furnish the needed funds and establish commercial relations for | college cooperative societies. and by find | ing buyers the smaller colleges relieve the larger cooperative stores from any | congestion of old damaged stock. | The society charges per cent of the gross sales for financing and jobbing for | a college community. The main offices of 1 the corporation are at New Haven, and | there are afficliated cooperative stores at l Amherst, Williams and Kenyon colleges, | the Ohio State, Miami, Otterbein, Woos- 1 ter, Ohio Wesleyan. Virginia State and Michigan State universities. This spring as many more new locations will be 1 opened up for branches.
 Cooperative Idea. This is a wholesale spread of the CO., | operative idea that is of importance as | factor in college life. Aside from Joseph l B. Thomas, Jr., who conceived the idea | of a college exchange for sporting and | other goods when manager of the track | team at Yale the directors of the parent company have had practical experience | in establishing at Yale and elsewhere the | college dormitory and college dining hall | systems.
 1 The directors believe that the college | cooperative store is necessary as an ad- l iunct to the welfare of every college and large preparatory school-that the coop