I've always been a little mystified by how a member-owned cooperative the size of Ace Hardware can function, although admittedly my experience is based entirely on Fred's Fabulous Fare, the IL State Fair all-meat, all-the-time cooperative food stand where I worked among co-op livin' vegans who changed their names regularly for a few years. But it looks like I won't have to wonder anymore:
“We believe that becoming a traditional corporation is the best path for our retailers and the company,” the Ace President and CEO Ray Griffith says.
But, says one Chicago store owner: “This has huge ramifications for the dealer base. . . "This clearly is a corporate takeover.”
http://chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26209&seenIt=1
Well, I know of at least one huge corporate co-op....
Land O Lakes dairy co.
beyond that, I haven't much time to delve into this...however, within a few days I'll post further thoughts.