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Weavers Way Co-op Records
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Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Weavers Way Co-op was founded in 1973 in West Mount Airy, a neighborhood in Philadelphia. A cooperatively owned market, Weavers Way grew from a small deli and produce buying club to include two fully staffed and stocked grocery stores in West Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill; Across the Way, a natural pet supply and wellness store in Mount Airy; and Weavers Way Next Door, a natural health and wellness store in Chestnut Hill. In 2015, Weavers Way membership was 5,000 households.
Since its founding, Weavers Way embarked on several cooperative ventures. For example, in addition to offering its members an alternative to the conventional grocery store, for a short time it operated a fuel cooperative and credit union. The Co-op also organized a recycling program and endorsed food boycotts, most notably a boycott on grapes in the 1980s. Weavers Way served as a leader in urban agriculture and the organic foods movement. In the 2000s, it began operating the Mort Brooks Memorial Farm at Awbury Arboretum, which supplied Weavers Way stores and farmers markets with organically grown produce, and the Henry Got Crops community supported agriculture (CSA) program at W.B. Saul Agricultural High School.
Although owned and governed by its membership, Weavers Way hired a staff to manage its retail stores. Committed to fair compensation, it provided its full time staff with paid vacation time and health insurance. Around 2000, the Co-op discovered fraudulent bookkeeping and was almost bankrupted. Amid the crisis, the Co-op reformed its fiscal practices, members paid a premium on purchases, and staff members took pay cuts.
The Weavers Way Co-op records document the philosophy, operations and management, finances, membership, programming, and newspaper, The Shuttle, of the Weavers Way Food Co-op, from its 1973 founding to 2015. Records were gathered from members' homes and staff offices, and include governing documents, including articles of incorporation, mission and bylaws; minutes for board and committee meetings; minutes and other records related to co-op membership, staff, and a variety of affiliated programs and cooperative initiatives. Of note are scant records related to an energy co-op, credit union, recycling program, and endorsed food boycotts. There are financial records dating back to 1976, including records concerning the 2002/2003 "financial crisis." There are issues of The Shuttle, the Weavers Way newspaper, from 1973 to 2015, and a small collection of photographs and slides featuring members, the store(s), and events. This collection also includes preserved versions of the organization's website, available through Archive-It: https://www.archive-it.org/collections/4487.
The collection has been arranged at folder level. It is arranged into 8 series as follows:
Series 1: General administrative files, 1972-2012
Series 2: Board records, 1974-2012
Series 3: Committee records, 1974-2010
Series 4: Membership, 1973-2011
Series 5: Financial records, 1976-2012
Series 6: The Shuttle, 1973-2015, 2023
Series 7: Photographs and slides, 1978-2000s
Series 8: Website versions in Archive-It, 2015
Additions to this collection are expected. Websites are captured using Archive-It periodically, and the latest additions may not yet be included in this finding aid. For information on material–physical and digital, including captured websites–that may have been added since the last finding aid update, please contact the Special Collections Research Center.
Donated by Weavers Way Cooperative Association, 2015 and 2023.
Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Collection was minimally processed and finding aid prepared in November 2015 by Courtney Smerz, Collection Management Archivist. One issue of The Shuttle from 2023 was added to the collection in November 2023. Only original boxes and folders in poor condition have been replaced.
Processing of the small amount of digital materials in the Weavers Way Co-op Records is underway. Information about their content will be added to the finding aid shortly. In the interim, please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Subject
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- December 2023
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Weavers Way Co-op Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
A/V: (4 copies) dvd, VHS
Series 8 contains preserved versions of the Weavers Way Co-op's website. To access these sites, see the Temple University Special Collections Weavers Way Co-op records Archive-It web page: https://www.archive-it.org/collections/4487