Benefits of membership
There are plenty of personal benefits to becoming a member of The London Co-op Store, and many ethical reasons to give it your support and keep it thriving through your membership:
Healthy organic foods, natural body care products, and environmentally friendly cleaning products
The London Co-op Store carries all the natural products you need for healthy eating, natural personal hygiene, and eco-friendly cleaning.
We keep a wide selection of natural foods and products in stock, including organically grown produce, organically produced meat and dairy, fair trade coffees, organic dry, canned, and processed foods, naturally sourced vitamins and other health supplements, earth-friendly household cleaning products, natural body care products, and magazines on organic growing, vegetarian living and other areas of interest to our members.
If you're looking for an item we don't usually stock, you can place a special order for any item listed in the catalogues of our suppliers. You can also recommend new products to the managers and Provisions Committee.
Affordable prices
Shopping at a natural and organic food co-op is like getting health food store groceries without the steep health food store prices. The price you pay at The London Co-op Store is the wholesale price plus a small mark-up, calculated as a fixed percentage and designed to cover operating expenses without a profit — which makes all of our organic and natural products very affordably priced.
Participation in decision-making
As a member-owned co-operative, The London Co-op Store is governed democratically by its own member shoppers. This means that, as a co-owner, you have a say in the decisions that affect the store through your vote on all motions brought forward at the Annual General Meeting, as well as through your optional participation in committees and potentially as a member of the elected board of directors. Managers and board directors are also open to your feedback and suggestions.
Community and a sense of belonging
The London Co-op Store is more than a store where people do their grocery shopping — it's a community of people who share a vision of a better world. This sense of community can be seen in action in the store: member shoppers interacting as friends, exchanging health tips, sharing recipes for natural eating, networking on social, environmental or other issues, and catching up on family news.
We also organize member events such as potlucks and other get-togethers, and connect online through the online discussion group.
One of the best ways to get to know fellow members of the co-op community is through volunteer shift-work as a cashier, packager or stocker.
The power and means to be an ethical consumer
Where you shop can support or undermine the way you put your values into practice. If you buy organic foods at a corporation-owned supermarket, you're supporting your own health but not necessarily putting into practice some of the other values you may share with us.
The London Co-op Store stocks its inventory on the basis of criteria that are ethical rather than just health-related, enabling you to put into practice the ethics of social justice, local governance, and environmental sustainability.
To be an ethical consumer in London, Ontario, you need access to local ethical businesses. Without any outlets like our natural food co-op, you would have no choice but to compromise these ethical values when it comes to buying groceries. But as long as The London Co-op Store is around, you have a not-for-profit option that is aligned with the ethics of "right consumership."
Whether you are already health conscious and environmentally and socially aware, or whether you are new to these ideas but interested in becoming more informed and embracing a healthy sustainable lifestyle, we warmly invite you to support your own health, the health of the planet, and the ethics of our not-for-profit alternative to big corporations, by becoming a member of The London Co-op Store!
