Purchasing Cooperatives:
Business owned and managed democratically by individual businesses that club together to collectively purchase their inputs. (e.g. Farmers collectively purchasing fertiliser, shop-keepers clubbing together to collectively purchasing their supplies)
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Ace Hardware Corporation (USA): A hardware purchasing cooperative representing a number of retailers by buying hardware wholesale for its various shops.
Founded: 1924
Significance: largest retail cooperative in the USA
Membership: 5,000 individual shop-owners (2017)
Turnover: $5bn (2015)Â