Maynard's 150 years of food CO-OPs

Riverside Co-op building (1882-1936), corner of Nason
and Summer; store was Nason-entrance, first floor

From 1875 to 2025, Maynard has been host to nine co-operatives. The oldest was Riverside Co-operative Association (1875-1936). The longest duration and largest was United Co-operative Society (initially named Kaleva Co-operative Association), from 1907 to 1973. A U.S. Department of Labor report for 1947 mentioned that United was one of the top ten co-ops in the country for membership and for annual sales.   

To get back to the origins of the co-operative concept, in 1844 a group of 28 weavers in Rochdale, England, organized the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers, “…and opened their first store, with a small stock of flour, oatmeal, butter and sugar.” Soon added tea, tobacco and candles. Their guidelines formed the basis for the principles on which co-operatives around the world continue to operate. The Rochdale Pioneers became highly successful, with 1,400 members by 1855 and 5,560 members by 1870, able to shop at many stores. Other co-operatives, modeled on the Pioneers, in time covered almost all of the United Kingdom.

1865 photo of 13 of the original 28 founders

There had been earlier attempts to establish co-operatives that were basically buyer’s clubs, which by pooling their purchases were able to buy at wholesale prices and sell to members at below retail prices. The Rochdale Pioneers were one the early co-operative efforts to add profit-sharing to members based on a percentage of the cost of the goods the members purchased, i.e., a patronage dividend. The seven Rochdale Principles were Open membership, Democratic control, Distribution of surplus, Limited interest on capital, Political and religious neutrality, No buying on credit, and Co-op education.

Open membership: Although co-operatives often started as groups of workers within one laborer profession (weavers, miners…) or group (Finns, Italians…), ideally, membership was not limited. Membership was also voluntary, meaning that members of a union could not be required to also join the union co-operative. Non-members could shop at the stores at the same prices as members, but would not get additional benefits.

Democratic control: All shareholders had one vote regardless of how many shares they owned. Typically, membership shares in the early twentieth century cost $5, equal to a bit more than a day's factory worker's pay. Shares could be sold back to the co-operative, but not to other people. 

Distribution of surplus: At the end of a fiscal year, profits were distributed to members based on the amounts of goods they had purchased during the year. In a pre-computer era, members saved their receipts, then brought all receipts to the co-operative. Staff checked their totals. For Maynard’s Riverside and United co-ops, depending on how well the year had gone, members got a cash payment ranging from one percent to as high as ten percent of their year’s purchases. If the co-operative had operated at a loss, no refund that year. 

Interest on capital: In addition to reimbursements, shareholders got interest on their investment (but share value did not change). When a co-operative voted to dissolve, shareholders expected to get their original investment back.

Neutrality: Co-operatives were supposed to operate neutral to issues of religion, race or politics. The American reality was that co-ops were started by immigrant groups – in Maynard, English, Finnish, Polish, Russian – and often conducted business meetings in their native language.  

Cash only: Many early efforts at establishing co-operatives were under-capitalized, and foundered when members were allowed to purchase goods on credit. Two of Maynard’s co-ops failed in the Great Depression for this reason. 

Education: Programs were conducted to educate members and non-members on co-operative principles. For example, Maynard’s United Co-operative Association had adult classes, Young Co-operators’ Club, and Co-operative Day Camp. 

As previously noted, Riverside was Maynard’s oldest. It was started by English and Scottish immigrants who worked at the woolen mill. Many of them may have been familiar with the co-operative movement in the United Kingdom. Riverside began in 1875 as a chapter in an American movement, the “Order of the Sovereigns of Industry.” This was an urban workers organization modelled on the Grange – a farmers’ organization formally known as the “Order of Patrons of Husbandry.” "Sovereigns" was in effect a buyers’ club with intention to secure high quality goods at lower prices. Locally, this meant buying wholesale in Boston, transported to Maynard by train. Nationally, the Sovereigns organization faltered under financial mismanagement, but in 1878 the local chapter reformed itself as the Riverside Co-Operative Association and persevered.

Riverside's shares were $5 each (equivalent to about $150 in today’s dollars), with individual members limited to 60 shares. The total capital investment was $1,500. Per the by-laws, regardless of how many shares owned, each shareholder had one vote. The operation started in the basement of the Darling Block building (northeast corner of Summer and Nason streets), moved to the Riverside Block (now the site of the new apartment building next to CVS), and then in 1882 built its own building at the southwest corner of Summer and Nason. The building was a four-story wooden edifice, with the store on the first floor, entrance on Nason Street. The other floors were rented out. 

By 1909, Riverside had more than 600 members. In addition to quality of goods and competitive prices, members were twice a year paid a cash refund ranging from two to ten percent based on how much shopping they had done and how good a year the co-op was having. Additionally, shares earned five percent interest. A decline started with recession of 1920, compounded by cost of repair after a fire, same year. In 1929 the store business was sold to George Morse (the store manager), while the co-op continued to own the building. A large fire in January 1936 led to dissolution of the Association later that year and sale of the site to Knights of Columbus, which had been a long-time tenant. Proceeds were divided amongst the remaining shareholders. The subsequent brick K of C building now hosts SUTRA Studio.

A document from the United Co-operative Society criticized Riverside as having emphasis on dividends to stockholders, but without an education program for members and their children, leading to lost coherence as a social institution. Contributing factors were that the children of the founders of Riverside were moving up the socio-economic ladder at same time as England and Scotland were less of a source of Maynard's immigrant labor. A front-page newspaper article from 1913 had noted that prior to 1900 the town was mostly English-speaking, but the expansion of the mill had doubled the town’s population by bringing in large numbers of immigrants from Finland, Poland, Lithuania and Italy.

There were smaller and shorter-lived co-opertive efforts. Suomalainen Osuuskauppa, which translates as ‘Finnish Co-operative Store’, started 1899. Capitalized at only $800, it lasted a few years before dissolving and selling its store to a private owner. Maynard had a chapter of the Grange, started 1913, but unlike in rural situations, the Grange never operated a store. Gutteridge’s 1921 history mentions “Keefe’s Co-operative” without any details. The Historical Society has a share certificate for the Russian Co-operative Association dated 1917, but there is no other evidence in the collection that this effort reached its capitalization goal of $5,000 or became operative. 

Shares were typically price at $5 each (equiv. to $150 today)

The Maynard Co-operative Milk Association was formed in 1914. Three years later it split, with some of the dairy farmers becoming the diary operations of the United Co-operative Society. The other members, who did not want to affiliate with the Socialist/Communist atheist United, formed the First National Association, which existed to 1941. It owned and operated out of a building on the corner of Main and River streets that had been the Somerset Hotel, site now occupied by Thai Chilli. The International Co-operative Association was started in 1911 by immigrants from Poland. It lasted 20 years. It began in a building near the Methodist Church, later moved to space in the Masonic Building. Membership numbered 200 to 400 over the years. First National and International failed in part because they extended credit to members during the Great Depression. 

United's pine tree logo as a 
stained glass window in the
Historical Society collection

The Kaleva Co-operative Association started in 1907 by Finnish immigrants, morphed into the United Co-operative Society of Maynard in 1921. It continued to exist to 1973. “Kaleva” refers to an ancient, mythological, Finnish ruler known from a 19th century work of epic poetry and story-telling compiled by folklorist researcher Elias Lonnrot. The work, “The Kalevala,” is regarded as the national epic of Finland, instrumental in fostering a sense of Finnish national identity that culminated in the Finnish declaration of independence from Russian rule in 1917. Locally, immigrants had formed the Finnish Workingmen’s Socialist Society in 1903, from whom the 187 founders of the Kaleva co-operative were drawn.

According to a book, “The Finnish Imprint,” a delegation of Finnish immigrants had initially approached the large and prospering Riverside Co-operative Association with the idea of becoming members. Because many of the recent immigrants did not speak English, they asked that the co-operative hire Finnish store clerks. This suggestion was rebuffed, with a reply that if they did not like the service they received, they should start their own store. They did. The business was initially capitalized at $1,600 from sale of 320 shares at $5/share. The initial location was a rented storefront at 56 Main Street. By 1912 the co-operative had bought the entire two-story building, soon after added a bakery operation, a dairy with home delivery, and a restaurant on the second floor, serving meals to hundreds of workers living in neighboring boarding houses.

Maynard was not the only home to a Finnish-organized co-operative. Fitchburg has the Into Co-operative and Quincy the Turva Co-operative. In 1919, Maynard and these and others merged to create the United Co-operative Society of New England. This was short-lived due to financial and political disagreements, the end result being that the Maynard group reorganized as the United Co-operative Society of Maynard, and Fitchburg becoming the United Co-operative Society of Fitchburg.     

United’s by-laws had added an eighth principle to the previously describe Rochdale seven – continuous expansion. Over the first 50 years, years membership grew from 184 to 2,960 members as delivery of coal and firewood (1924), fuel oil (1933) and ice (1934) were added. In addition to the Main Street store, a branch store was opened on the northeast corner of Waltham and Powder Mill Roads (1926), superseded by moving the branch store operations to a new building at the northwest corner of the same intersection (1936). This remained active until it was sold to Murphy and Snyder printers in 1957. Next door was a Co-op automobile gas and service station (1934). A credit union was added in 1948.

A report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor at that time stated that the United Co-operative Society of Maynard was one of the ten largest in the country, calculated either by number of members or annual sales. More than half the households in Maynard belonged to United. At its peak, the co-operative had more than 50 full-time employees, with medical benefits and life insurance – unusual for that era.  

United survived the competition from an A&P supermarket operating on Nason Street (in the building now housing The Outdoor Store), but the presence of Victory Supermarket on Powder Mill Road, combined with the freedom to food shop elsewhere provided by increased car ownership, put pressure on the co-operative. In June 1973 that was a vote to dissolve.

Entrance to ASSABET CO-OP MARKET, Powdermill Road

After a no co-ops gap. in 1981 a natural foods effort named the Carob Tree Co-op was started in Concord by Debra Stark. It later moved to Acton, then Maynard, where it occupied a small store on River Street, then back to Acton. Stark went on to start Debra’s Natural Gourmet in West Concord in 1989. 

And now - after a much longer no co-ops gap - we have the Assabet Co-op Market (assabetmarket.coop). Its origins date back to small group meetings in 2012. The Co-op opened in May 2023 with more than 2,000 owner/members, currently more than 2,700. The Co-op is an 8,000 square foot, full-service grocery store located at 86 Powdermill Road (Route 62) with a small cafe, and a deck overlooking the Assabet River. Hours are 8am-8pm every day. Joining costs $200 and members receive an annual dividend in profitable years. Non-members are welcome to shop - goods priced as the same for members - but do not take advantage of the members rebate. Assabet makes a point of sourcing food from local farms whenever possible. So now, 150 years after the first, Maynard is once again a co-operative town!