In order to expand the business of the co-operative more
capital was required so the Manager, Mr. A.P. Moan, guided by the Board of Directors,
spear-headed a share-selling drive that garnered an astonishing $6,000. They spent a
little money to renovate the Krogman Block to make it more suitable for the grocery and
dry goods business, stocked it with lots of new inventory, and hired professional
retailers to serve the public. Nestor Bequin and his assistant John Asp ran the grocery
department.
The store's second story became a popular hall for
meetings and social gatherings. Weddings, church suppers, lectures, conventions, dances,
card parties, and all other sorts of community gatherings and political meetings took
place there over the years. People began to call it the "U.F.A. Hall".
In addition to this new store a long term lease on
trackage across from the store was procured from the C.P.R. Three carload bins were
stationed on this trackage and from these bins the Co-op handled over thirteen hundred
carloads of coal in the succeeding years.
When the new store opened salespeople passed by Wetaskiwin
without taking an interest in it, but by the end of the first year all manner of salesmen
arrived with order books in hand to sell their wares. The Co-op was no longer a
curiosity - it was a business that was here to stay. Eventually, companies like
Cockshutt and International Harvester proposed that the Co-op become dealer agencies.
However, instead the Board struck a deal to represent the United Grain Growers line
of machines until it ceased doing business. Then the Co-op represented the Brantford
Equipment lines that were eventually sold to the Case Company.
Farm machinery, coal retailing, cream grading, handling of
eggs, poultry, produce and feeds were added into the business mix. A dry goods
department under the keen eye of Marie Bengtson and a hardware division under the care of
G.W. Brandenburgh were a welcome addition.
In 1922 a drought in the Wetaskiwin area caused severe
shortages of fodder, feed, and seed grains. In an effort to help the community the
Co-op shipped in one hundred and eleven carloads of hay, feed, seed grain, fruit, potatoes
and vegetables.
The following year grain prices were extremely low and
western grain growers quickly reacted and formed the Canadian Wheat Pool. The Co-op
Store and its hall became the headquarters for district organization and canvassing
for this organization process. An event of this magnitude created new impetus for business
in Wetaskiwin.
The $9,000 debt on the building took only seven years to
pay in full.
By 1927, crowded for space, the Co-op was ready for
another expansion. This time they didn't need to move. They simply acquired
more property to the east of the store building and erected a warehouse for heavy
hardware. Measuring 60 feet by 100 feet it was built at a cost of $1800.
The popularity of the automobile widened the trading area
and the convenience of shopping in Wetaskiwin increased the number of members and
consumers. Eventually, a White Rose gasoline pump was installed on the curb near the
hardware door.
Around this time the volume of business that all the
Alberta Co-operatives were enjoying prompted the formation of the Alberta Co-operative
Wholesale Association. The Wetaskiwin Co-operative, through the efforts of the
manager, and Board of Directors, contributed significantly to the organization of the new
association. In fact, Mr. Moen, who had served as the Wetaskiwin Co-operative
manager for ten years, took over the management of the ACWA in 1929.
To fill this vacancy the Board of Directors approached Mr.
Edward Peterson to take over. Farming with his father, he had been a founding member
of the Wetaskiwin Co-operative, but had since left farming and worked for the Wheat Pool
at the time. With him at the helm sales that year soared to an all time
pre-depression high of $209,000. By today's standards that was big, big money.
Then just as quickly as the business had boomed the Great
Depression hit North America and everyone began to suffer the consequences. Wheat
prices dropped to a three hundred year low of twenty cents, livestock prices hit
rock bottom, people lost their jobs and hit the road seeking any kind of paying job.
Although many industries went bankrupt, through the loyalty of the membership and
the staff Wetaskiwin Co-op weathered the storm and managed to have a modest surplus at the
end of each year.
The Dirty Thirties were not full of doom and gloom for the
Co-operative. Around 1931 the Wetaskiwin Co-operative Refinery was established and
bulk fuel and petroleum products were added to the list of commodities that the Co-op
could delivery to their members.
And there was more to come.
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