Coop Norge SA is a Norwegian cooperative. It is owned by 117 local cooperatives with approximately 2 million members. The company has its headquarters in Oslo.

History

The first cooperative store in Norway was opened in the 1850s and, on 27 June 1906, a group of 28 cooperatives formed the NKL (''Norges Kooperative Landsforening'', "Norwegian Cooperative Association") to act as a wholesaler for its members. The next year, it joined the

International Co-operative Alliance The International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) is a non-governmental co-operative federation or, more precisely, a co-operative union representing co-operatives and the co-operative movement worldwide. It was founded in 1895 to unite, represent an ...

. NKL acquired the Norwegian Margarine Factory (''Margarinfabrikken Norge'') in Bergen in 1911; it later purchased other

margarine Margarine (, also , ) is a spread used for flavoring, baking, and cooking. It is most often used as a substitute for butter. Although originally made from animal fats, most margarine consumed today is made from vegetable oil. The spread was orig ...

factories in Oslo and

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

. It purchased a cigarette factory in 1914 and a coffee plant in 1916. During the 1920s, it began production of shoes and flour; during the 1930s, it added chocolate and light bulbs as well as Cooperative Insurance (''Samvirke Forsikring''). NKL opened the first self-serve store in Norway on 1 October 1947 and, in 1951, the law was changed to permit cooperatives to open branch stores and to sell goods to non-members. In the 1950s, its Tormolux division produced washing machines and mopeds; in the 1960s, it began use of the S brand and opened the warehouse chain Domus.

Obs! Obs is a chain of 31 hypermarkets throughout Norway managed by Coop Norge and owned by local cooperatives. The chain director is Lars Midttun. History The first hypermarket opened in Trondheim in 1968 under the name DOMUS Stormarked. Pri ...

was established as a separate chain in 1975, and the next year NKL purchased

Røra Fabrikker aksjeselskap, AS Røra Fabrikker is a Norwegian company that is located in Røra in the municipality of Inderøy in Nord-Trøndelag county, Norway. It is a juice, jam, and processed agricultural product company that is a subsidiary of Coop Norge ...

, an Inderøy-based producer of jams and juices. Prix was introduced in 1990. In 2000, NKL rebranded itself as Coop NKL. In 2001, in collaboration with Sweden's KF and Denmark's FDB, it established Coop Norden AB and rebranded its own operations as Coop NKL. Coop Norden was dissolved in 2008 and Coop NKL resumed control of its outlets in Norway as Coop Norge SA.

Membership

Members of Coop belong to one or more of the local cooperatives. Each member must make a cash deposit of

NOK Nok is a village in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Nigeria. The village is an archeological site. Archaeology The discovery of terracotta figurines at this location caused its name to be used for the Nok culture, of which these ...

100–300. The deposit and some interest is redeemable upon cancellation of the membership. The local cooperatives operate the association's stores and are led by

board Board or Boards may refer to: Flat surface * Lumber, or other rigid material, milled or sawn flat ** Plank (wood) ** Cutting board ** Sounding board, of a musical instrument * Cardboard (paper product) * Paperboard * Fiberboard ** Hardboard, a ty ...

s elected by the membership. Dividends are paid out based on a percentage of the amount purchased.

Operations

Coop stores include the following divisions: * Obs, hypermarkets * Coop Mega,

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service Retail#Types of outlets, shop offering a wide variety of food, Drink, beverages and Household goods, household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earli ...

s * EXTRA, discount supermarket * Coop Prix, discount stores * Coop Marked, rural stores * Matkroken, rural stores * Coop Kjøkken og Hjem, kitchen and home supplies * Coop Elektro, electronics stores * Coop Byggmix,

hardware store Hardware stores (in a number of countries, "shops"), sometimes known as DIY stores, sell household hardware for home improvement including: fasteners, building materials, hand tools, power tools, keys, locks, hinges, chains, plumbing suppli ...

s * Obs BYGG,

s * Coop Sport, sporting goods stores

Subsidiaries

Coop Norge wholly owns Coop Norge Handel AS, its production and trade company; Coop Norge Eiendom AS, its real estate management company; and Smart Club AS, a separate retail chain.

Coop Norge Handel

Coop Norge Handel AS ("Norwegian Coop Trading Co.") controls Coop's production and trading operations. Its wholly owned subsidiaries include Coop Norge Industri AS and four property companies. It has stakes in a potato-packing plant in Grinder, Takecargo AS in Lysaker, and John Weydahl AS and the Grocery Supplier's Environmental Forum in Oslo. It also has stakes in Coop Trading A/S and NAF Trading A/S in Denmark and Coop Norden Bygg Inköp AB, a construction supply firm, in Sweden. Coop Norge Industri's subsidiaries include Coop Norge Kaffe AS, AS Margarinfabrikken Norge, and Smart Club Gourmet AS in Oslo;

in Inderøy; and Gomanbakeren Holding AS in Sandnes, which operates subsidiary bakeries around Norway. Brands produced by Coop Norge Industri or its subsidiaries include "Coop"-brand coffee, "Goman" baked goods, "X-tra" discount items, "

Røra Røra is a village in Inderøy municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The village is located on a small peninsula between the Trondheimsfjorden and the Børgin fjord. The village is located about north of the town of Verdalsøra and abou ...

" fruit products, "Änglamark"-brand organic food, and "

Kellen Kellan, also spelt Kellen, is a male given name. Other variations of Kellen or Kellan include Kaelan, Kallen, Keelan, Keilan, Keillan, Kelan, Kelden, Kelle, Kellyn, and Kellin. People People with Kellen as a first name include: *Kellen Brigg ...

" hardware.

Coop Norge Eiendom

Coop Norge Eiendom AS ("Norwegian Coop Property Co.") controls Coop's real estate holdings and investments. Its wholly or partly owned subsidiaries include many properties in

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

, Kristiansund, Surnadal, and

Gran Gran may refer to: People *Grandmother, affectionately known as "gran" * Gran (name) Places * Gran, the historical German name for Esztergom, a city and the primatial metropolitan see of Hungary * Gran, Norway, a municipality in Innlandet coun ...

, as well as others in Oslo, Bergen, Hammerfest, Tromsø,

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the municip ...

, and many smaller towns.

Smart Club

Smart Club AS is a formerly independent chain which was purchased by Coop Norge in August 2008. Most of its operations were folded into one of Coop's existing brands, but three stores were kept open under their former name.

References

External links

Coop Norge
official website
Coop Norge
centenary website {{Authority control Cooperatives in Norway Retail companies of Norway Wholesalers of Norway Conglomerate companies established in 1906 Retail companies established in 1906 Coop Norden Norwegian companies established in 1906