Calgary Co-op Timeline: A Look Back
In 2006, Calgary Co-op turned fifty! That’s a lot of years with a lot of history. Take a quick journey back in time and see how we did.
1963: Macleod Trail Centre opens. 1964: The book exchange program begins, netting $650 in donations in its first year. 1965: The Brentwood Centre opens to a huge crowd. Sales climb to $9.5 million, membership reaches 23,038 and the patronage return is 3.2 per cent. 1966: A 10-year milestone: Forest Lawn Centre is built; Kiddies Korrals are introduced.
1956: The Calgary Co-op journey begins at the downtown centre. Initial membership totals 1,000, Gordon Barker is named Board Chair, and annual sales top $938,000. 1958: Membership climbs to 3,350. Calgary Co-op purchases property next to the downtown centre for a service station. 1960: Calgary Co-op opens its second store, the North Hill Centre on 16th Avenue N.E. Membership grows to 5,525, sales reach $2 million and staff number 115. 1961: The North Hill Centre realizes $1.5 million in sales in its first 10 and a half months of operations. “This is an era of madness in merchandising,” one member is quoted as saying.
1969: The downtown centre receives a $500,000 makeover, re-opening in May. The 50,000th member receives a $25 dollar gift certificate, sales increase 20 per cent to $22.7 million and the patronage return is 3.6 per cent. Calgary Co-op secures 12 per cent of all Calgary retail food sales. 1970: Calgary Co-op purchases 7.6 hectares of land on Symons Valley Road N.W. for future development; the Macleod Trail Centre is renovated. 1971: The centre on Richmond Road and 49th Avenue S.W. opens for business. 1972: Calgary Co-op exceeds the $1 million mark for sales in one week. Federated Co-op’s service centre on Meridian Road N.E. is purchased, becoming the Calgary Co-op HomeAgri Centre. Forest Lawn Centre undergoes a $500,000 expansion.
1962: The Calgary Labour Council wants to organize retail clerks and meat cutters. Following much debate, employees form their own union, the CALCO (Calgary Co-op) Club.
First Downtown Centre.
Page 9 • Calgary Co-operative Association Limited
50 years