Our Story
Our Cooperative Roots
We’re one of the oldest co-ops in the country, formed as a small buying club in the winter of 1936. Today we’re made up of three large food stores, a kitchen, a resource center, and two auto service centers, all located in the beautiful Upper Valley of N.H. and VT.
Initially, members of the fledgling co-op pooled orders for potatoes, oranges, and maple syrup and arranged for discounts of gasoline and fuel oil with local suppliers. A year later, Co-op members incorporated as the Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society and opened a small retail store in a basement on Hanover’s Main Street. Annual sales that year reached $11,404. In 1963, the Co-op moved into its new quarters at 45 South Park Street in Hanover, N.H., just down the road from Dartmouth College. Over the years, more food stores would follow.
Our Service Centers
In 1985, the Co-op purchased the adjacent Park Street Mobil station, now the Co-op Service Center, and brought community-owned auto repairs to the Upper Valley. The little auto service center was so popular that throughout its history it struggled to keep up with demand. So at member and customer request, more than 30 years later, the Co-op opened a second auto repair facility at the site of a former car dealership on Route 5 in Norwich, Vermont.
Today the Co-op employs around 400 people, with more than 400 local producers, serving more than 33,000 member households through our food stores and auto repair centers. When you bring your car or truck to us, you’re supporting a community-owned business with a reputation built on trust. And every dollar you spend with us supports local businesses, sustainable practices, and inclusive trade.
