Merasheen Co-operative Consumers Society

​Roger Carter

The Merasheen Co-op grew out of a buying club which was formed in the late 1930s. The store had its first premises in a member's house "...where one box of tobacco was set up in the window".(1)

It was to develop into one of the most important co-operatives in Placentia Bay (for example, by taking leadership in the operation of the Placentia West Co-op Transportation Society, and in the Newfoundland Co-op Union).

As early as 1944, the Merasheen Co-op was attempting to pool and jointly market members' cod fish. It also sought information on hiring a schooner to import eighty tons of coal from North Sydney.(2)  By July of 1958, Merasheen Consumers had invested $3,364 in the Placentia West Co-op Transportation Society which owned and operated its own schooner.(3)

Merasheen Consumers appears to have operated relatively well until the late 1950s. Until then, membership in the society was fairly stable at around 100 members. Its sales in 1958 and 1959 were approximately $40,000 each year (including food, clothing, home furnishings, coal, wood and other building materials, fishery equipment and supplies, and oil). The co-op also marketed lobsters.(4)  However, in 1958 a co-op Inspector warned that the society was "...going down hill..." largely due to lack of attention being paid to the co-op by the manager who had several other commitments (including managing the Co-op Transportation Society).(5)

In May of 1963, a co-op Inspector reported that the Merasheen Society was floundering and losing business to other stores on Merasheen Island. He reported that the chief cause was problems with the manager, but that the Board of Directors was not without some fault. He suggested that everyone in Merasheen knew what the society's problems were and how they could be rectified but they were swayed either by family relations to do nothing, or by complete disinterest in the affair.(6)

Merasheen's manager was subsequently dismissed, resulting in considerable commotion in the community. To make matters worse, according to a government Auditor, the dismissed manager took goods from the store to the value of his share capital which was more than $1,300.(7)  (Editor's note:  $13,406 in 2026 value (14))  At the time, each persons' shares were only worth a fraction of their face value, because the co-op owed more than $12,000.  (Editor's note: $123,750 in 2026 value (14))

Withdrawal of the manager's shares at full value in the form of goods, consequently caused serious problems for the society. Also, a shortage in inventory of approximately $3,000 was discovered after the manager left.(8)  (Editor's note: $30,937 in 2026 value (14))

More than $10,000 were owed to the society by its members in October of 1963, and some of the bills had gone to the Credit Bureau for collection.(9)  Most of the bills were uncollectible and by early December of 1963 the co-op's new manager reported that: "Most people here in Merasheen consider the co-op as gone now, even the Board of Directors are very doubtful of its survival..."(10)  The co-op store closed in February of 1964 and did not re-open.(11)

By early March of 1964, only 56 of Merasheen Consumers' 80 members were left on the island. The others had resettled. Fourteen members attended a meeting in March and passed a resolution in favour of winding up the society.(12)  Shortly after, the community was totally evacuated under the Fisheries Resettlement Program.

When Merasheen Consumers was liquidated it paid only 15-20% of the amount owed to creditors, and nothing to the society's shareholders. Nothing was realized on the society's buildings.(13)

Editor's note: Information researched, developed and remains the copyright of Roger Carter. Used with permission. 

References

1. Merasheen Reunion, 1980, p. 47; Letter from Auditor to Registrar, Feb. 15, 1940, CRF Box 9241.
2. Letter from Manager of Merasheen Co-op to Co-op Registry,June 2, 1944, CRF Box 9241.
3. Report of Inspection, June 30, 1958, CRF Box 9241.
4. Annual Returns, various years, CRF Box 9241.
5. Letter from Inspector to Board of Directors, June 30, 1958, CRF Box 9241.
6. Report of Co-op Inspector, May 6, 1963, CRF Box 9241.
7. Report of Audit Inspection, October 17, 1963, CRF Box 9241.
8. Letter from Co-op Inspector to Gerald S. Doyle Ltd., February 20, 1964, CRF Box 9241.
9. Report of Audit Inspection, October 17, 1963, CRF Box 9241.
10. Letter from New Manager of Merasheen Consumers to Registrar, December 6, 1963, CRF Box 9241.
11. Letter from Liquidator to Department of National Revenue,August 31, 1965, CRF Box 9241.
12. Letter from Society's Manager and President to Registrar, March 3, 1964, CRF Box 9241.
13. Memo from Registrar to Minister of Consumer Affairs and Environment.
14. Bank of Canada Inflation Calculator.