THE co-operative movement in Scotland began in the latter half of the 18th century and, in East Lothian, local initiatives led to many small co-operative retailers in towns and villages by 1900.
In the 1860s and 1870s, a number of co-operative ventures were opened in East Lothian. These included Tranent (1862), Cockenzie (1865), Haddington, Dunbar, East Linton (all 1867), Prestonpans (1869) and West Barns (1874).
However, by 1939 only Prestonpans remained in its original form.
Cockenzie was the first to be incorporated into the Tranent society, in 1876. In 1912, Dunbar and West Barns also combined to form a single society.
By 1920, Tranent Co-op also owned and operated stores in Ormiston, Pathhead and Cockenzie. It had storehouses in Haddington, farms at Easter Windygoul, Kingslaw, Muirpark and Winton, and a market garden at Bank Park. The largest society building in Tranent housed a hardware store, two grocery stores, a drapery, a boot store, a bakery, a power and lighting department, stables, a dressmakers, a millinery, a joinery and undertaking, a paint store, a fleshers, a tea room, a fruit shop and a drug department.
In about 1937, the Tranent store combined with the Haddington Co-operative Society (which also included stores at Gifford and North Berwick).
In 1940, the East Lothian Co-operative Society was formed from the merger of Tranent and Haddington, Dunbar and West Barns, and Duns and District. The Tranent and Haddington Co-operative Society was already one of the largest and most powerful in the area and by 1945 almost 12,000 of East Lothian’s population were members of the Tranent Co-op.
After the Second World War, membership continued to grow and the society contained 16,839 members in 1966.
East Lothian Co-op Society had its main base in Tranent and a smaller one in Haddington. It operated a large market gardening and dairy enterprise (230 acres over five farms) from Adniston Farm, near Tranent. It also ran its own undertaking business, which eventually was taken over by the Scottish Co-operative Wholesale Society.
By the 1970s, the way the public shopped had started to change – but, at this point, the Society had branched out and this diversity allowed it to keep earning profit despite a drop in membership.
In 1992, the East Lothian Co-op merged with the Border Regional Co-op to form the Lothian and Borders Co-operative Society. The Prestonpans Co-op was absorbed by the Scottish Midland Co-operative Society (ScotMid) in 1994.
In June 1999, an announcement was made about the closure of the remaining Co-op shop in Haddington and the Homemaker Store in Tranent. However, the same week, the Lothian, Borders & Angus Co-operative Society announced a £2 million extension to its Tranent superstore.
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