The People’s Supermarket (TPS), a cooperative effort set up on Cowley Road in 2012, is facing probable closure due to debt.
Subscribers to the mailing list received an email this week providing details of the organisation’s troubles. An extraordinary meeting is scheduled for 19th November, in which shareholders will be able to vote on the future of TPS.
TPS is a community project funded and run by its shareholders, of which there are approximately 500. Shareholders who work volunteer shifts are rewarded with in-store discounts.
TPS told its members, “Our negotiations with the landlord’s agents were not as positive as we had hoped. The cooperative owes £7,000 in rent and a further rent instalment of £7,500 due in December.”
Unless the deadline is met, TPS will lose its premises on the 2nd December. The email stated, “As things stand, we neither have access to enough cash to pay the landlord nor enough confidence in the business to accept a loan of the amount needed.”
As well as issues with funding and turnover, one of the causes of the probable closure is a lack of volunteers to run the supermarket itself. The email explained, “The volunteer and shift leader rotas continue to have huge gaps. Individual members have covered these so far.
“We don’t think it is fair to rely so heavily on very few individuals. Our takings did not pick up to the extent we had hoped for and would have expected based on last year’s sales. Employing somebody is therefore not an affordable option in the foreseeable future.”
Although TPS’ troubles are rooted in underuse, there are staunch members and users who are saddened by its potential collapse.
Abigail Burman, a second-year historian and regular shopper at TPS said of the closure, “I’ll really miss the supermarket if they close. Their bread selection is unparalleled.”
TPS is calling on its members for financial support in the run-up to the meeting, saying, “We will be collecting donations in the shop to pay back some of our outstanding debt to members and suppliers. We also invite members whose membership has expired to donate their renewal fee for such payments. Finally, we invite members to donate items for sale in the shop. The revenue from these sales will be used to pay back creditors.”
