ABSTRACT
In the second half of the nineteenth century, continued urban growth and the expansion of consumer demand presented opportunities for the development of large-scale retailers such as multiple retail firms and department stores (Jeffreys, 1954). Consumer cooperatives represented a third major type of retail organization, based on political as well as economic factors. Unlike the multiples the co-operative stores had many of their initial successes in the smaller industrial settlements. The earliest growth up to 1870 was in the mining and textile areas of northern England, followed by the east Midlands and later by Scotland (23.5). In contrast, developments in London and southern England came not only later, but were much smaller in number. Nevertheless, at a national level co-operative societies dominated grocery retailing, as their membership increased from 500,000 in 1880 to 1,700,000 by 1900.
