The World A Department Store - The Cooperative

The Cooperative

Bradford Peck (1853–1935) has been compared to King Gillette as a successful businessman of the Gilded Age who nonetheless advocated views that were, to some degree, anti-capitalist and pro-socialist. Peck followed the Horatio Alger pattern in American life, rising from want to commercial success; a native of Lewiston, Maine, he built the largest department store in the state in its time. In reaction to the chaotic business conditions of the Panic of 1893, Peck began to develop a commitment to the emerging cooperative movement.

Peck formed a local co-operative association in 1899, and soon promoted it into the "Coöperative Association of America." His goal was to link producers with consumers as directly as possible, eliminating all expenses of "middle-men", bankers and interest payments, and advertising costs, and so creating a far more efficient and economical business model than the one dominant in America in his generation. The Association established a co-op grocery and restaurant, and opened a reading room; Peck later transferred the ownership of his department store to the Association so that its profits would support the cause.

Peck organized conventions and other activities to promote the co-operative movement. The Association tried to form a co-operative community in Oregon in 1906, but without success. The Lewiston co-op shut down in 1912, when the C.A.A. lost its lease on its headquarters. Peck, however, remained a vigorous advocate of his views until his death at age 82. He also wrote The World a Department Store, his only novel, to promote his vision. The book sold for $1.00 per copy; royalties went to the Association. (A British edition was issued by the publisher Gay & Bird, also in 1900.)