Consumers Association Zurich
The Cooperative Zurich (CPC) was a Swiss company in the retail trade . The company, founded in 1851 by eight Grütlians , was the first to be called Konsumverein and is considered to be the oldest really successful consumer cooperative in Switzerland and on the European continent. In 1995 the KVZ was taken over by Coop .
Forerunner of the cooperative
In the 19th century, consumers began to intervene in the market for the first time by founding consumer associations or cooperatives. The forerunners of the consumer associations in Switzerland, the fruit associations founded because of food shortages and high prices, spread from the share bakery founded in Schwanden in 1839 in the cantons of Glarus , St. Gallen , Schwyz , Bern , Vaud and Geneva in the form of self-help organizations for mediation of bread. These associations had principles similar to those of the Rochdale Pioneers Society, founded in 1844 , which, among other things, ensured the purity of goods (unadulterated goods), cash payments, distribution of surpluses based on purchases made (reimbursement), limited interest on capital, creation of reserves from surpluses (savings cooperative). , Promotion of training and democratic management (one man, one vote) included. The Schwanden factory workers' association was the first to incorporate the Rochdale principles into its statutes in 1864. Until the introduction of the Code of Obligations in 1881, the consumer societies had the form of stock corporations, but were in character like cooperatives, which endeavored to procure good food for members and to sell them as cheaply as possible.
Consumers Association Zurich
The establishment of the consumer association Zurich took place on 26 September 1851 in the form of an association for the purchase of cigars and shirt cloth accordance with the statutes of the trade usury off. The initiators were Karl Bürkli , son of a Zurich patrician family and early socialist , and the teacher and lawyer Johann Jakob Treichler , a student of Wilhelm Weitling . Bürkli christened the association «Consumverein».
First the members of the cooperative bought a load of cigars, then a pile of shirt towels, and later oatmeal, barley, rice, peas, coffee, soap, candles and oil. It was sold without a profit, only a commission fee was charged. Bürkli was the head ( factor ) of the consumer association until 1854 . After his experiment in Texas to build a phalanstère after Charles Fourier had failed, he returned to Zurich and worked again from 1858 to 1861 as head of the consumer association.
The consumer association with its branches and offshoots was also a kind of early socialist party organization . The two most important functionaries of this society, Johann Jakob Treichler and Jakob Bürkli, were elected to the Cantonal Council. In 1853 there were already five convenience stores, and in 1854 the Consumverein Zürich had 2,450 members, and the annual turnover was over 600,000 francs. It was mostly workers from Zurich's industrial companies, especially from what would later become Escher Wyss , who subscribed to the shares .
The great successes of the Zurich Consumers' Association did not remain without influence on the environment. Consumer associations were soon set up in Rüschlikon , Affoltern am Albis , Altstetten , Brüttisellen , Rorbas , Schwamendingen and Wollishofen , and shortly afterwards in Horgen and Thalwil . In the course of 1853, over 30 consumer associations were formed in the canton of Zurich. In 1861 Karl Bürkli lost his position as administrator due to internal disputes. In 1858 the CPC decided not to accept any more members. The Konsumverein Zürich was converted into a closed stock corporation in 1878, which limited its dividend to the previous members. The Swiss Consumers 'Association (VSK, renamed Coop in 1969 ), which was founded in 1890, was not joined by the Zurich Consumers' Association.
The first KVZ branch (today “BachserMärt Paradiesli”) existed from 1920 to 1981 in Zurich-Seefeld. In the city of Zurich and in the agglomeration, a chain of stores was created with further KVZ branches. The branches were later renamed "K3000" stores. In 1977 a K3000 grocery store was built in the then new Am Suteracher housing estate in Zurich-Altstetten. In 1987 the Letzipark shopping center was built on the site of a former KVZ branch , in which the consumer association was represented with a modern, generously proportioned “K3000” showcase branch and a branch of the discounter “Billi”.
In 1991 the Coop acquired a majority stake in Konsumverein Zürich, which was completely taken over in 1995. The takeover became possible because the cooperative head voting principle was abandoned by the KVZ. With the conversion of 45 KVZ branches into "Coop" branches, the name "K3000" disappeared from the Swiss market by 1996. The wine trade was sold and the large bakery and winery closed. In March 1998 the KVZ snack chain Lord Sandwich was given up and reopened as Coop Take It .
The KVZ expansion object , the hard discounter Billi , was initially continued by the KVZ and sold to Denner in 1998 . Thirteen K3000 stores belonging to the KVZ Group went to Spar , which has been involved in Swiss retailing since 1989.
literature
- August Krebser: Answer to Karl Bürkli's utterance: "The consumer associations are not there to grant members economic advantages." A comment on the settlement of the current revision of the statutes in the Konsum-Verein Zürich. Konsum Verein Zürich, Verlag Dr. Suremann, Zurich 1872.
- Johann Jakob Honegger : Memorial to the five and twenty year history of the Consum-Verein Zürich. 1878.
- Konsumverein Zürich: Report on the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Konsumverein Zürich, Sunday July 14, 1901. Konsumverein Zürich publishing house, Zürich 1901.
- E. Künzle, K. Bänninger: History of the consumer association Zurich, 1851-1926. J. Rüegg Publishing House, Zurich 1926.
- Konsumverein Zürich: For the Zurich Congress of the International Federation of Cooperatives. Verlag Schweizerischer Konsum-Verein, Basel 1946.
- Gaston Kohli: Festschrift for the centenary of the Konsumverein Zürich 1851–1951. On behalf of the Zurich Board of Directors. Self-published, Zurich 1951.
- Konsumverein Zürich: K-3000-Information: current information from Konsum-Verein Zürich. In: magazine of the consumer association Zurich. Zurich 1975.
Web links
- Bernard Degen : Consumer associations. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Ruedi Brassel-Moser : Cooperative movement. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
- Entry in the commercial register from February 22, 2008
- University of Zurich: Economic history online
- E. Kuhn-Carpentier: History of the Swiss cooperatives until 1896. In: Frauenbestrebungen. Women's Commission of the Zurich Food Association, Zurich 1916, Part 2 (archived in the E-Periodica of the ETH Zurich )
Individual evidence
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↑ Purpose of the KVZ in the statutes of January 18, 1852:
§ 1. The consumer association has the following purpose: 1. It intends to bring the consumers closer to the producers by purchasing the products from the source of supply, especially those in between Commercial usury, which sucks producers and consumers by increasing the price and adulteration of goods, making them useless and harmless; 2. He connects a savings bank with the latter whose voluntarily deposited funds work for the benefit of the consumer association.
§ 2. The activities of the association consist in the purchase of products in larger quantities, if possible from first hand, and in the sale of these to the members in any quantity, at the price resulting after deduction of a commission fee.
(E. Kuhn-Carpentier: History of the Swiss Cooperatives until 1896. In: Frauenbestrebungen. Women's Commission of the Food Association Zurich, Zurich 1916, 1st part (archived in E-Periodica of the ETH Zurich )) - ↑ Paradiesli Cooperative: History
- ↑ The new one is already in the starting blocks. In: Handelszeitung . August 22, 1996 (archived on the Swiss Insurance website )
- ↑ Anything but on the «economy» flame. ( Memento of the original from October 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: Handelszeitung. February 22, 1996 (archived on PME Magazine's website )
