Calgary Co-op
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Calgary Co-operative Association Limited (commonly referred to as Calgary Co-op) is a retail
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
operating in
Calgary, Alberta Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
.


History

Opened in the 1940s as a food store operated by the
United Farmers of Alberta The United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) is an association of Alberta farmers that has served different roles in its 100-year history – as a lobby group, a successful political party, and as a farm-supply retail chain. As a political party, it forme ...
in Calgary and eventually changing hands to the Alberta Co-operative Wholesale Association (ACWA) in 1951, the Calgary Co-operative Association was founded to operate the Calgary food store independently of the ACWA, partially due to member dissatisfaction with how the ACWA managed the venture. The Calgary Co-operative Association purchased the Calgary store from ACWA in 1956 for $58,000.


Present operations

As a member of
Federated Co-operatives Federated Co-operatives Limited (FCL), operating as Co-op, is a co-operative federation providing procurement and distribution to member co-operatives in Western Canada. It was established in 1944 after a series of amalgamations of smaller coop ...
(FCL), Calgary Co-op has over 440,000 members, 3400 employees, assets of $441 million and annual sales over $1 billion. Calgary Co-op provides services in food, petroleum, home health care, pharmacy and cannabis. In August 2019, it was announced that Calgary Co-op had entered into an agreement for its groceries to be supplied by the Alberta arm of the
Overwaitea Food Group The Overwaitea Food Group is an operator of supermarkets, based in Langley, British Columbia. It is owned by the Jim Pattison Group. Most stores are under the Save-On-Foods banner, which it launched in 1982. On March 8, 1915, Robert C. Kidd pu ...
(owner of commercial competitor
Save-On-Foods Save-On-Foods is a chain of supermarkets located across Western Canada, owned by the Pattison Food Group. Stores carry both standard brands and private label brands, such as Western Family. Many stores have a pharmacy, and some locations prov ...
) beginning in April 2020. The organisation stated that this change would "better serve members and ensure long-term sustainability". Calgary Co-op's
High River High River is a town within the Calgary Metropolitan Region of Alberta, Canada. It is approximately south of Calgary, at the junction of Alberta Highways 2 and 23. High River had a population of 14,324 in 2021. History The community takes ...
grocery store will not be part of this change and will continue to be supplied by FCL, as will its petroleum and convenience store operations. FCL criticized Calgary Co-op's decision to switch to a private company as supplier, with its CEO Scott Banda stating that it was "sad to see them moving away from the Co-op family they've helped build". With the change, the chain migrated to two private label brands, "Founders & Farmers" —which is positioned as a value-oriented brand, and "Cal & Gary's"—which is positioned as a premium brand with nods to local culture and humour. Both brands emphasize the involvement of local producers where applicable.


See also

*
List of Co-operative Federations This is a list of co-operative federations. For a list of individual Co-operative Enterprises, please see List of cooperatives. International * Africa Confederation of Co-operative Savings and Credit Associations (ACCOSCA) * International Co ...
*
Supermarkets in Canada This is a list of supermarket chains in Canada. For supermarkets operating in other countries, see ''List of supermarket chains.'' Major chains *Georgia Main Food Group operates: **Fresh St. Market ** IGA / MarketPlace IGA in British Columbia onl ...


References


External links

* {{Canadian Supermarkets Companies based in Calgary Consumers' co-operatives of Canada Food and drink companies based in Alberta