When Sandi Torkildson and Nancy Geary announced in June their decision to sell A Room of One’s Own, they were looking for new owners who would have a similar vision for the bookstore and keep the 41-year old establishment’s values intact.
Interest to buy the place was high, but many people suggested another option: turn the store into a cooperative.
According to Torkildson, nearly 20 people suggested the co-op model, where a group of workers or consumers collectively own a company, which they control democratically. The idea intrigued her and Geary, she says, as a way to keep the legacy of A Room of One’s Own alive.
“A bookstore is an institution that many cities really want to have,” Torkildson says. “[A cooperative] is a way for the community to invest in that and make sure it’s there for the long run. It’s not a high profit business but it adds so much to the life of the community that people are willing to invest in it to keep it going.”
As of now, the idea is simply exploratory, says Torkildson. Transitioning into a co-op takes time and she and Geary hope to retire in the next three years. Nevertheless, they will hold an informal meeting at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 20 at the bookstore, 315 W. Gorham St., to give those interested an opportunity to meet one another and network. There will also be information on the different cooperative models that could be established.
They have three main options: worker-owned cooperatives, consumer-owned, or a hybrid model that combines the two. Fortunately, Madison is a hot spot for co-ops, including Union Cab Cooperative, Willy Street Co-op, Isthmus Engineering, Just Coffee, Community Pharmacy, as well as several housing co-ops. It also has another co-op bookshop, Rainbow, although that store has been struggling of late.
Transitioning to a co-op presents a few challenges regardless of the city’s familiarity with them, says Courtney Berner, cooperative development specialist at the Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives.
“The challenges can be anything from how profitable it is, the price the owner is seeking, to what kind of financing is available and whether the selling owner is willing to do some self-financing,” says Berner, who will offer her expertise at Tuesday’s meeting. “[You need] the right members at the table, and alignment in terms of the desires of the selling owner and the potential owner.”
But Ald. Rebecca Kemble, a worker-owner herself at Union Cab and a champion of worker co-ops, is confident it can happen.
Kemble, who is president of CICOPA North America United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives, notes that this year the city started the Co-operative Enterprises for Job Creation and Business Development Program to help fund the development of worker cooperatives.
The program is based on the idea that worker-owned businesses lead to increased job creation and development, with a greater per capita income growth in counties with more small, local businesses, says Ruth Rohlich, business development specialist with the city. Another argument in favor of co-ops is that they’re more likely to stay local, since the businesses usually have deeper community ties and are unlikely to move to a different city.
The city program provides $1 million a year, for five years, to support worker-owned cooperative development, including aid to existing businesses converting to co-op models. It has yet to provide funding to any businesses, but Rohlich expects the first loan will be given out by the end of the year.
Kemble says she would love to see A Room of One’s Own become a co-op, particularly because she believes it would help the store’s legacy endure.
“That’s because the workers themselves carry that legacy and work towards it. I know the workers there have always been committed, not just to the business, but to the mission of a locally owned bookstore,” she says. “It’s just the most sustainable and creative model for a business.”
