Appin Community Co-operative
On the west coast of Scotland, the Port Appin Community Co-operative Ltd. is a well-established example of a village shop that has evolved to meet a variety of local needs.
Registered in 1983 as a Friendly Society by the Highlands and Islands Development Board, the co-operative received grant support from 1984-86, but is now self-supporting, with an annual turnover of $250,000. It boasts a membership of 250 (in a catchment area of around 400). The shop is staffed by one full-time and four part-time paid employees, and is affiliated to, but not owned by, the CWS.
Currently undergoing a facelift and rebuild, the shop not only supplies residents and tourists with groceries and household items (including coal, local maps and guidebooks), but is also the local post office, off-license, community bulletin board, and unofficial “information exchange”. When not in use delivering supplies to the housebound elderly, the co-operative’s van can be borrowed by members for purposes such as moving house or transporting heavy objects.
Founder Ian McNicol notes that although the co-operative doesn’t distribute a cash dividend to individual members, its surplus goes to a community trust that allocates funds for local causes. Their Community Enterprise Consortium, for example, advises youngsters on how to obtain training grants leading to employment.
Although business is somewhat seasonal, he adds that the co-operative is able to avoid cash-flow crises by always maintaining sufficient reserves. Nevertheless, their turnover has been eroded in recent years by access to a broader range of items and lower prices at a large new supermarket in the area.
