The Store 2

The Store Interior

Shopping at the Store

At New Lanark, many villagers' wages were paid in vouchers, though this was not true for all workers. However, quality and prices at the store were so good that it was very unlikely that workers minded having to spend their wages there. Laws were eventually passed to prevent this, and villagers were free to spend their money where they wanted.

While the store was run by the Co-operative Society, all the purchases would be noted in black books. As you entered the shop, you would drop your book in a box, and customers would be served in that order. Some women went back home for a while if the queue was very long, but if you weren't in the store as your name was called, you would go back to the end of the queue.

The Store Today

The village store, originally a three storey building, now occupies only the ground floor of the building, while the two floors above have been converted into flats. The store now sells sweets and small souvenirs to visitors to New Lanark.

The Cooperative movement

The principles of the Cooperative Movement were established by the Rochdale Pioneers, one of the first groups of the Cooperative Movement. These rules were : Open membership, Democratic control Payment of fixed, limited interest on capital, Profits distributed to members in proportion to their trade with society and Provision of education. Their primary aim, however, was to give people good value for money.