Calgary Co-op’s Number One Co-operator
Sarah Savill
Some excerpts from Calgary Co-op: The First 25 Years, compiled by Rob and Nancy Millar in 1981, and published in celebration of Calgary Co-op’s 25th Anniversary, and from Calgary Co-op’s ‘Celebrating 40 Years’ publication.
S
arah Savill. More than Calgary Co-op Member
They not only survived,
No. 1, she is a fitting example of the pioneers
but prospered with a fairly
who founded your co-op.
large dairy operation. In
Even before joining Calgary Co-op, Sarah was no stranger to co-operatives. After all she grew up near Rochdale, England, the birthplace of modern co-operatives. Her family belonged to the local weaver’s co-op where their patronage returns came in the form of bolts of cloth.
was looking for investors, Sarah and her son Arthur each purchased $1,000 worth
of
shares
to
become Members No. 1 and 2 respectively.
Sarah moved to Canada with her husband and children in 1908. With little money and no farming experience, they settled in the Nose Creek area around Calgary and made the most of their new lives. Through much learning and hard work, the family did well in their new environment establishing themselves as an important part of local agriculture.
Sarah Savill passed away in 1963. The No. 1 membership was handed down to her youngest daughter, Nellie. Cutting the ribbon at the opening of the Beddington store in 1980, Nellie dedicated a great chunk of rock standing at the entrance of the shopping centre. A strange choice for a dedication? Not really. This particular rock was one of the many
In 1918, Sarah’s husband Walter passed away. Sarah and her children continued to farm.
ack in B the bottom
1956 when the new co-op
How It All Began
that Nellie’s mother and father learned to work around in their early years in Canada. g
retail stores to the Alberta Co-operative Wholesale Association (ACWA) and, for
1956, a farmer wrote on
the next five years, the downtown store
of his $50 Calgary Co-
achieved
success
like
never
before.
op membership cheque, ‘FOR A LOST
Despite a flourishing business during
CAUSE.’ Fifty years later, thousands of
these years, members of the downtown
dedicated employees and hundreds of
store never received a patronage return.
thousands of loyal members couldn’t be
The downtown store’s profits were being
happier to have proven this prediction to
diverted to fund the ACWA’s other, less
be so wrong.
successful stores.
Calgary Co-op’s history really began in the 1940s when the United Farmers of Alberta (UFA) opened a co-operative grocery
store
in
downtown
Calgary.
While the UFA was skilled at meeting the needs of local farmers, success in the grocery business seemed a great deal more elusive. They had difficulty finding and keeping qualified managers. Money always seemed scarce. In 1951, after several years of hard work, the UFA decided to sell all of its
Page 7 • Calgary Co-operative Association Limited
50 years