Coop Gives 5 Percent Rebate Again

Coop members will receive a 5 percent rebate on last year’s purchases, the Coop announced yesterday.

The rebate includes purchases made at the Coop’s six locations and through the mail order or online catalogs during the fiscal year ending June 29.

Rebate checks will be available at Coop Member Services, according to Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy ‘73. Unclaimed checks will be mailed to customers in mid-December.

Members can also log on to the Coop’s website to find out the exact amount of their rebates or to donate their rebates to the Harvard or MIT communities, Murphy said.

Murphy estimated that the average Coop member will receive $20.

While sales at the Coop declined $1.3 million from last year, Murphy said that the number of Coop members increased 4.4 percent in the past year to 65,647.

Thirty-seven thousand of these members will receive rebates this year. According to Murphy, 40-45 percent of these members are students.

Murphy said this is the fourth year that the Coop has given a 5 percent rebate—a number determined by profit margins.

He said there could be an increase in the rebate in future years, but this would depend on members’ support and patronage.

“We are owned by our members,” he said. “At the end of the year we share the profits with you—that’s the essence of a cooperative.”

Coop stockholder Jennifer S. Axsom ’04 said while the majority of the Coop’s profits go back to members in rebates, the Coop also donates to the community and to student groups at Harvard and MIT.

“I hope awareness about what the Coop does encourages people to shop at the Coop,” she said. “The Coop is a long-standing tradition.”

Students said the promise of a rebate does not generally affect their decisions to make purchases at the Coop.

Brandon Chiu ’06 said he goes to the Coop to buy books and Harvard-insignia clothing.

“It’s convenient and organized,” he said. “Rebates are just an added bonus.”