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2000-2002
The year 2000 was celebrated as the start of
a new era around the world, and it was a new era for Co-op Atlantic, which
launched the innovative Atlantic Tender Beef Classic program that year.
This unique branded beef program would eventually offer co-op stores
throughout the Atlantic Provinces access to locally raised, consistently
tender quality beef, and it was a big hit with consumers.
This innovative program aside, much of the organization's activity
during 2000 was an extension of the consolidation and rejuvenation efforts
that began almost a decade ago. More divisions were renamed and
reconfigured as Co-op Atlantic continued to examine the efficiency of its
operations and the level of service it was providing to co-ops throughout
the region. A co-venture - Valley Fertilizer - was formed with Scotian
Gold, while another co-venture - a poultry operation in Newfoundland - was
purchased in partnership with ACA Co-operative. The organization also
purchased Sydney-based MacLeod's Wholesale Ltd. and formed Moncton-based
Maximum Alarm and Security as a wholly-owned subsidiary.
There were also some exciting developments on the retail side.
Twenty-six co-ops converted to the Co-op Basics format in 2000, while 27
consolidated to form the Consumers Community Co-operative, Canada's
second-largest food consumer co-op. The festive season brought further
cause for celebration as Co-op Atlantic launched its Christmas Catalogue
online, again demonstrating the organization's commitment to capitalizing
on technology to provide improved service. And 2000 also saw the
incorporation of the Atlantic Co-operative Country Stores, a consolidation
of Corridor, Amherst and Summerside farm stores.
Changes at the retail level continued into 2001 as Co-op Atlantic
introduced a new conventional store format and opened the first Medicine
Shoppe, a service-oriented pharmacy. Four more Medicine Shoppes would open
before year's end. A new line of products was also introduced under the
Market Town brand. These retail initiatives were complemented by several
ambitious construction and expansion projects. Perhaps most notable was
the construction of Camden Park Terrace, a $6 million, 60-unit retirement
residence to supplement the adjacent Peoples Park Tower in Moncton. The
construction of a new Meat Distribution Centre was announced for the city
of Sydney, as was the expansion of the adjacent Sydney Frozen Food
Distribution Centre.
The Medicine Shoppe
Camden Park
Terrace
Before the year ended, Co-op Atlantic
held its first Atlantic Tender Beef Classic Symposium in Summerside, PEI,
launched Atlantic Tender Chicken and began discussions about launching a
third meat line. Looking back on the initiatives of the past two years,
not to mention the past seven decades, it is clear that Co-op Atlantic is
entering its 75th year of operations pretty much the same way it entered
the marketplace in 1927: with an eye to the future prosperity and vitality
of the region through a prosperous, vital and tightly knit co-op network.
The developments of the next 75 years are certain to be just as dramatic
and exciting.
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