The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-07-17
A COOPERATIVE TOWN
Service, Not Profit" the Slogan In
Maynard, Mass.

MAYNARD town of 1000 population
in Massachusetts, almost earns the right
to be called Il cooperative town. accord
ing to the Cooperative League, 164
West Twelfth Street Cedric Long of
the league recently visited Maynard and
found that in the town there are four
consumers cooperative stores, three bak-
cries, two butcher shops and Il flourish
ing restaurant. These cO-operatives do
an annual business of 100000. They
employ fifty men and women. Three OF
the societies own buildings as well as con
siderable land. which is being held for
further expansion of their enterprises
Service, not profit is the slogan OF
each organization.
THE Riverside Cooperative Society
is now forty-four years old" said state
ment from the Cooperative League IN
telling of the cooperative organizations
in Maynard. 1t handles groceries, meats.
hardware dry goods, candies, &c. Tor
the English-spcaking population Of May
nard. it does a business of 81 600
week Even under bad business condi-
tons such as are prevailing at present 1t
has been able to save it's members d per
cent. on their purchases.
THE International Cooperative As
ISOLATION has a membership made up OF
Poles. Russians and Lithuanians. This
society conducts grocery and bakery
business, which also takes in about
81 900 a week.
THE First National Cooperative As
ISOLATION supplies groceries. meats,
milk, general merchandise and bakery
products from its own bakery. Each
week it does nearly $1,000 worth of
| business
The largest society in Maynard is
the United Cooperative Society, affili-
ated with the Cooperative League, with
HEADQUARTERS in New York 1t Is :, a
! Finnish group with 500 members. 1t
| does a business of $4,000 a week, sell
| ing groceries, meats, general merchan-
! disc and furniture and operating milk
| distributing department. a large bakery
and q restaurant. Wholesale, tasty
| meals are furnished to members at an
average of 40 cents a meal. surplus
! of 81 400 was earned in the last four
months from the operation of this res
/ taurant, although an experienced man
4 ager of such a business run under priv
ate control would expect to lose twice
! that amount if he should serve such meals
! as these a such price.
This society supplies its members with
] loo quarts of milk daily at cents 2
! quart. 1T pays the farmers Z cents and
/ the , cents difference barely covers the
i cost of bottling and delivery. No money
/ is saved from the dairy business by this
/ society, but it is performing a great ser
vice for the people of Maynard. Because
/ of the rock bottom price for pure milk
/ charged by the coop all the other dea-
| lers in town have had to come down to
/ 10 cents. In fact, the milk dealers as
/ ISOLATION a year ago tried to put the CO
/ operative milk dealers out of business by
! selling their milk below Q cents for a
while. But within few weeks they lost
$4,000 in this fruitless effort and gained
a healthy respect for the efficient meth
DDS of the cO-operators whom they We're
/ fighting.
"The co-operatives in this little in
! dustrial town of Maynard are demo-
! cratically supplying almost every type
/ of merchandise needed by their members
/ They are administering the peoples bus
mess for the benefit of all, rather than
for the profit of the few butchers bak-
1 ers and candlestick makers.