The records of the Ann Arbor Cooperative Society relate to its activities as a non-profit cooperative. While some material is extant documenting the early years, the majority of the record group is focused on the period from 1970-1983. Around a third of the available records are minutes to board meetings and financial statements, referring to the cooperative as a whole. The rest of the record group pertains to individual committees, projects, programs and activities.
This record group is excellent as a case study of a non-profit cooperative. The records provide information concerning the organization, its purpose, operation, finances and services. It is arranged in two series, Administrative Records and Board of Directors and Financial Records, with materials from the second accession incorporated into each of the series' files. While an attempt was made to place materials on specific activities and committees in separate topical -files, information concerning these can be found in the minutes of the board of directors, where all items concerning the cooperative society were discussed and reviewed.
The Ann Arbor Cooperative Society was founded in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1936 as a group of individuals banding together to purchase rock salt and coal. As the venture was successful it branched out to include other consumer areas such as groceries, gasoline and a credit union in the early years, expanding further to include an insulation company, insurance, legal, and tax services, trailer parks, recreational facilities and a memorial advisory and planning service as time passed. The purpose of the cooperative was to protect and advance the interests of its members as consumers and to provide quality items and services at reasonable prices.
The Society expanded throughout its first decade, growing from a bulk coal and salt buying club to include cooperative gas stations, grocery, and appliance store, testing and grading its products and educating members about cooperative ideals. However, the Society offered many of these services below cost, and could not keep operations running. The food and appliance stores disbanded around 1952, with the gas stations folding shortly thereafter.
During the 1960s and early 1970s, the Society started to recover financially, and began expanding its services again. Cooperative offerings included the Creduco insulation company, low-cost legal, tax, and insurance services, discount ticket sales, an optical service, and the Memorial Advisory and Planning Service. Around this time, it also became involved in real estate, buying a recreational camp site and trailer parks. Unfortunately, the Society's real estate ventures proved to be too much of a drain upon its resources, and it divested itself of land holdings during the mid-1970s.
Throughout the Society's history its affiliated credit union, the AACS Credit Union, was an ongoing and enduring success. By the mid-1970s it was largely independent, with its own holdings and Board. Over the course of the 1970s, its Board and the Society's Board grew increasingly antagonistic towards each other. Eventually, the Credit Union decided to split away and become the Huron River Area Credit Union, a move which was effected in 1981. The loss of the Credit Union was a serious blow to the Society, and despite ventures like a new food co-op, the cooperative was disbanded ca. 1984/85.
