From Depression-Era Buying Club
to Modern Retail Store ...
... but always with a commitment to the local community
The Swarthmore Co-Op started in early 1932 as a fruit and vegetable buying group operated by several women, including Edith Morse, "Polly" De Moll, Elizabeth Bonsall, Betty McCorkle, Eleanor Keighton, Maria Wilcox and Caroline Malin, mostly wives of Swarthmore College faculty.
The buying and distributing operation was housed in a succession of basements and garages including the basement of the De Moll house at 121 Park Avenue. By 1936, the operation was moved into a two-story house off Michigan Avenue at the edge of town. The first full time manager was Sam Ashelman, a Class of '37 Swarthmore College economics and history major who dropped out for a short time to apply consumer economics in the real world.
By the middle of 1937, the Co-Op had further developed as a regular food market. It required more space, and was moved to the building at 401 Dartmouth Avenue on a lease from the De Moll family, who later allowed the Co-Op to buy the building for a modest sum. This Dartmouth Avenue location was originally used to stable the horses of the new borough fire department. The building itself was erected in the early 1920's and its ground floor was an automobile showroom and gasoline service station.
For the Swarthmore Co-Op, 1938 was the first full year of operation in the Dartmouth Avenue building, with increased volume of business, the issuing of Co-Op shares at $25 each, and the use of the services of a volunteer auditor, Oliver “Olie” Rogers.
According to Olie, the store's space was arranged in three sections. The left aisle consisted of a refrigerated dairy section in the front, and a meat cutting section in the back.
The middle aisle displayed many packaged foods and canned vegetables and fruits, almost all bearing the Co-Op label. The right aisle was mainly used for displaying produce which arrived early in the morning from farms 10-20 miles away. The products were unloaded in the "back room" which also held stacked cartons of canned goods.
In 1944, the Quaker members of the Co-Op board accepted - in fact invited - a young, Oregon-born Japanese American farmer as "producer," i.e., the person who loads and displays the store's fruits and vegetables.
By the late 1970's and early 1980's the COOP had to adjust to the reality of the rules of retailing. However, the COOP turned to its members for ongoing support. Members and customers responded with a $20,000 loan in promissory notes. In 1984, we moved to a new generation of management with Greg Byrnes was hired as new manager. By 1987 business had improved to the point that the board of directors decided to fund much-needed major renovations to the old building.
By the late 1990's, it was becoming apparent that the old building on Dartmouth Avenue again need major work and that it would be more feasible to build a new structure rather than to attempt renovations. Under the leadership of then-president of the board Jack Cavanaugh, planning for a new store began. According to Jack, it was "serendipitous" that at the same time that the COOP board was looking for a new location, the Borough was completing a business district strategic plan. The Borough agreed to buy the COOP's property to put in a new street (Lincoln Way) and the co-op would buy the adjacent property and build a brand-new, expanded store there.
In December of 2002, the membership fee was increased from $5 to $300 and a member loan program was instituted. The results were over 720 members and 75 member loans that totaled over $640,000. With that basis the store was able to get loans, and construction began.
On October 12, 2004, the old store closed for good, and on October 14 the new store opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony attended by over 200 members. The new store doubled retail space to 6,000 square feet, enabling it to greatly expand its range of products and services.
Again, change came to the COOP with Jack Cavanaugh retiring and the hiring of Gerry Greway as the new general manager to lead the COOP into the future.
So, join members and all members of the community to celebrate the COOP's 70 years of serving Swarthmore and beyond.
