Coop Board Makes It Official: No Rebate

Citing a net loss for the 1993-1994 fiscal year, The Harvard Cooperative Society decided yesterday not to offer a monetary rebate for last year.

William R. Dickson, chair of the Coop's board of directors, based the decision on "increased operating costs and one-time expense write-offs," that caused the Coop to operate at a loss last year, according to a press release.

This is the first time the store will not pay a refund since records have been kept.

The Coop traditionally returns profits it makes to its members in the form of a refund. The rebate for the 1992-1993 year was an all-time low of one percent, meaning a member who spent $1,000 at the Coop would receive a check for ten dollars.

"The rebate is a pure function of profits," President Jeremiah P. Murphy Jr. '73 said in an interview yesterday. "Whatever is eligible to be rebated will be rebated."

In what Murphy claims is an effort to make students "view the Coop as a valuable institutions," the store is offering a 10 percent discount to students on textbook purchases for the Fall term. The store has offered similar discounts in recent years.

"Books are a specific type of good that is meaningful to students," Murphy said. "[The textbook discount] is a promotional point."

Students shopping for textbooks at the Coop yesterday had mixed reactions about the loss of the rebate and the textbook discount.

"My rebate last year was $6.95," said A. Joy McGrath '96. "[The textbook discount] is much better because I spend about $800 on books and now I'm going to get $80 back."

"They overcharge anyway and this proves it because if they can give us 10 percent back they must still be making money," McGrath added. "They're winning and we're winning."

"It will probably end up that we will get more money through [the discount] than through the rebate," said Jayesh H. Rathod '97, "but it shows how badly the Coop is run."

Despite some student satisfaction over the textbook discount, alumni and other non-student Coop members are left without any kind of rebate.

The Coop, which serves both Harvard and MIT, has 145,834 members, of which only 20,000 to 25,000 are students.

Murphy, however, feels the Coop is still appealing to its non-student members.

"We feel we provide a total promotional package which is attractive to our members," Murphy said, citing the distribution of coupons for members during the winter holidays and member-only wardrobe sales.

"We have other activities which appeal to faculty, alumni, and other non-student members," Murphy said.

Alumni interviewed yesterday, however, were upset by the loss of the Coop rebate.

"It takes away the family feeling," said Richard N. Olans '66, a resident of Andover, Mass. "It turns it into just another store."

"I've been a member since I was an undergraduate, and I still use the Coop," said Gerald H. Angoff '66. "One would think that the management would be true to its charter and give a return for a specialized status."

"It's not just a business," Angoff said, "it's an institution which owes something to the community."

According to the press release, Dickson said "in the current year the Coop must closely examine its merchandising concepts and every other aspect of its business in order to return it to profitability."

"This may necessitate changing the concept of the Coop in a way that will be more responsive to the needs of [the] membership," the press release said

"We feel we provide a total promotional package which is attractive to our members," Murphy said, citing the distribution of coupons for members during the winter holidays and member-only wardrobe sales.

"We have other activities which appeal to faculty, alumni, and other non-student members," Murphy said.

Alumni interviewed yesterday, however, were upset by the loss of the Coop rebate.

"It takes away the family feeling," said Richard N. Olans '66, a resident of Andover, Mass. "It turns it into just another store."

"I've been a member since I was an undergraduate, and I still use the Coop," said Gerald H. Angoff '66. "One would think that the management would be true to its charter and give a return for a specialized status."

"It's not just a business," Angoff said, "it's an institution which owes something to the community."

According to the press release, Dickson said "in the current year the Coop must closely examine its merchandising concepts and every other aspect of its business in order to return it to profitability."

"This may necessitate changing the concept of the Coop in a way that will be more responsive to the needs of [the] membership," the press release said