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Our history

History 1929 Store

We've been around a long time - since 1861 in fact!

It's commonly thought that the beginning of the international co-operative can be traced back to a small building on Toad Lane, in Rochdale.

In 1844 the Rochdale Pioneers Society was established, based on eight 'Rochdale principles', including distributing a share of profits called a dividend - or cashback as it is now known.

Just 17 years later, a joiner from Gainsborough called Thomas Parker founded what is today Lincolnshire Co-op and we celebrated our 160th birthday in August 2021. Trading began at 1 Napoleon Place, Lincoln, in September 1861. By the end of the first quarter, there were 74 members and the dividend was 9d.

We now have over 220 outlets, we're owned by around 290,000 members and in 2020, the cashback pay out to members was almost £3.8m.

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