The People's Supermarket

The People's Supermarket

Genre	Supermarket
Founded	2010
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Slogan	For the people, by the people
Website	http://www.thepeoplessupermarket.org

The People's Supermarket is a food cooperative whose stated aim is to provide the local community with good cheap food that's fair to consumers and producers. It was set up in May 2010 by Arthur Potts Dawson, David Barrie, Kate Wickes-Bull, Andrew Thornton and a team of supporters and professional advisors in Lamb's Conduit Street, Holborn, London, England, near Great Ormond Street Hospital. As of February 2012 it had 1000 members.

Based upon the concept of the food co-operative and inspired in part by the Park Slope Food Coop in the Park Slope neighbourhood of Brooklyn in New York City, US, members of the social enterprise are required to pay a £25 annual fee and contribute 4 hours of their time every 4 weeks to working in the store. In return, members receive a 20% discount off their shopping in-store.

The People's Supermarket was visited by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron on Monday 14 February 2011 immediately prior to his speech relaunching his flagship Big Society initiative and the creation of the Big Society Bank at Somerset House in central London.

As of March 2012 the People's Supermarket website had a page headed "Our Imminent Closure" which announced that unless Camden Council continued to support it by allowing the renegotiation of rate payments The People’s Supermarket would become insolvent by 1 March, and asking site visitors to sign a petition. There was a rush of donations which enabled an instalment towards unpaid business rates of about £5,000 to be paid, ending the immediate risk of closure.

On 29 March 2014 the People's Supermarket hosted a supper club, with proceeds going to support the supermarket.

Media

The People's Supermarket
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	4
Production
Running time	48 minutes
Release
Original network	Channel 4
Original release	6 February 2011 (2011-02-06) – present
External links
Website

The People's Supermarket is a 4-episode February 2011 Channel 4 documentary series which follows chef and eco-restaurateur Arthur Potts Dawson's journey to launch a supermarket that is owned by its customers in order to compete with the UK's Big 4 Supermarkets. Founding members and local residents appear on the programmes.

The People's Supermarket was also discussed on BBC Radio 4's You and Yours programme on 15 July 2010.

Episodes

Episode	First aired	Summary
1	Sunday 6 February 2011	Arthur tries to get his big idea started, but worries that a big name supermarket will grab the premises he's got his eye on. He manages to buy the building but does not have enough money to fully stock the shelves, and reactions from local residents are mixed.
2	Sunday 13 February 2011	Arthur comes up with a guerrilla-style marketing campaign to persuade shoppers from nearby Sainsbury's to switch.
3	Sunday 20 February 2011	Arthur is struggling to keep the supermarket afloat. He decides to open a kitchen. But will people eat food destined for the bin?
4	Sunday 27 February 2011	The supermarket faces closure and Arthur's dream of a not-for-profit shop that is run for and by the people may well be over. It's time for him to take his biggest risk so far. Prime Minister, David Cameron visits the supermarket to discuss the concept and the progress being made with Arthur prior to his speech relaunching his flagship Big Society initiative. The show ends with Arthur hopeful of a grant from the Big Society Bank once it is running in June 2011.

External links

• Official website
• The People's Supermarket at IMDb