Word: cooped
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...surprisingly, the Coop's success story has involved a radical transformation of its goals and organization. The communal service of the original student-run cooperative has gone the way of valet service and wholesome meals in Harvard dining halls, to be replaced with the scientific business management that considers efficiency and profits the hallmark of successful enterprise. The Harvard Cooperative Society has entered the league of department stores like Jordan Marsh and Filene's, two of its Boston competitors. The Coop often selects its managers from among graduates of the nation's top business schools, and their tight-fisted handling...
...merchants charged at the time. The students started a shop in a local tobacco store, and out of their first five-foot-long bookshelf the Harvard Cooperative Society was born. The enterprise has since expanded to proportions its founders could never have dreamed possible. Over the past century, the Coop has grown into a multi-million-dollar retailing operation with six stores in the Boston area...
Profitability is the bottom line of that performance. The Coop's sales last year totaled more than $37 million, and its members received a 9.5-per-cent rebate on their purchases. Although the cooperative society must provide this patronage refund to its members, it is entitled to invest its profits from non-member sales into plant, stock, equipment and, inevitably, further expansion. The Coop's formula for successful enterprise is actually quite simple: The establishment exploits the laws of supply and demand to charge high prices for the products it sells while profiting from its limited outlays to labor...
...Molyneux '81-3, one of 11 students on a proposed slate for election to the Coop's board of directors that has expressed its sympathy for the union effort, said Wednesday the Coop's anti-union literature has become more sophisticated since the consultant has been working with the store's management...
...example of management's exaggeration of the possibly negative effects that unionization might entail, Kratka cited a statement in a letter from Argeros to Coop employees saying a union might be willing to trade away existing benefits to get mandatory membership. Local 1445 would be highly unlikely to make such a move, Kratka said, adding, "It's within the realm of possibility that there will be an earthquake tomorrow...