Co-operative shopping
The rebuilt Co-op Society store at the Black Country Museum is to be found in the 1950s street on the Museum site. I believe that this store originally stood in Halesowen, but is typical of the hundreds of Co-op stores of the period that could be found throughout Britain from the 1930s into the 1960s.
My immediate impression of this store was that it wasn't quite as I recall, the Co-op we used to visit was a little different. The tiled floor, the wooden shelves around the shop and the lighting look right, but I remember a wooden counter that went around the perimeter of the shop. There were very few goods that could be hand-picked, instead the shop assistant got items from off the shelves behind the counter at the customer's request. Things like butter and cheese were cut from a block, weighed and wrapped in grease-proof paper. There were certainly some goods stocked on the counter, possibly 'on offer' or that were promotions; maybe oddities in baskets in the central area? It's so long ago and I was very young. My mother took a weaved over-arm basket to the shops and a small handheld leatherette bag, which couldn't hold a great deal, so visits to purchase goods and fresh produce were fairly regular.
Friday 18th April 2025.
Co-operative shopping
The rebuilt Co-op Society store at the Black Country Museum is to be found in the 1950s street on the Museum site. I believe that this store originally stood in Halesowen, but is typical of the hundreds of Co-op stores of the period that could be found throughout Britain from the 1930s into the 1960s.
My immediate impression of this store was that it wasn't quite as I recall, the Co-op we used to visit was a little different. The tiled floor, the wooden shelves around the shop and the lighting look right, but I remember a wooden counter that went around the perimeter of the shop. There were very few goods that could be hand-picked, instead the shop assistant got items from off the shelves behind the counter at the customer's request. Things like butter and cheese were cut from a block, weighed and wrapped in grease-proof paper. There were certainly some goods stocked on the counter, possibly 'on offer' or that were promotions; maybe oddities in baskets in the central area? It's so long ago and I was very young. My mother took a weaved over-arm basket to the shops and a small handheld leatherette bag, which couldn't hold a great deal, so visits to purchase goods and fresh produce were fairly regular.
Friday 18th April 2025.