What are purchasing co-ops?
They are groups of business owners, or maybe local or state government agencies, who get together to purchase something in common to save money, enhance their purchasing power, lower costs, and improve their competitiveness. They could be buying warehouse equipment, consulting services, or products from domestic manufacturers and importers. There are other purchasing co-ops that focus more on business-to-business purchasing, like in the agriculture or energy sectors. The bottom line is that the purchasing co-ops give members the ability to make the volume purchases of the large chain stores, but they remain independent, local stores with their own brand identity. How do the financial arrangements work? The financing varies from group to group, so it’s important for small business owners to find a group that’s the right fit for them. The infrastructure of our co-op—we have 16 employees—is financed by dues from our member owners and an allocation of 20% of the volume discount that our me
