The Modern Cooperative
Following the dissolution of its political wing, UFA focused on its commercial operations. UFA entered into a partnership with Maple Leaf Fuels, a subsidiary of Imperial Oil in 1935 to distribute fuel to its members. The next year it began to open retail stations under the Maple Leaf brand across the province.
The first farm supply store opened in Calgary in 1954, and a second in Edmonton in 1957. That same year, UFA bought the assets of Maple Leaf Fuels, granting the co-op greater control over its business.
In 1984, UFA opened its first cardlock fuel agency in Calgary. Today, UFA has over 100 cardlock facilities across three provinces, and is the largest cardlock network in Alberta.
UFA has over 120,000 members and with 2007 revenues of over $1.8 billion, UFA is ranked as the 37th largest business in Alberta by revenue according to Alberta Venture magazine.
In March 2009, UFA purchased Wholesale Sports in western Canada, and 15 Sportsman's Warehouse locations throughout the Northwest United States, which it then re-branded as Wholesale Sports.
Read more about this topic: United Farmers Of Alberta
Famous quotes containing the words modern and/or cooperative:
“All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn.... American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“Then we grow up to be Daddy. Domesticated men with undomesticated, frontier dreams. Suddenly life—or is it the children?—is not as cooperative as it ought to be. It’s tough to be in command of anything when a baby is crying or a ten-year-old is in despair. It’s tough to feel a sense of control when you’ve got to stop six times during the half-hour ride to Grandma’s.”
—Hugh O’Neill (20th century)