ROTHESAY BRANCH.
For years attempts have been made to establish a branch of the Co-operative movement in Rothesay, but this was found to be impossible until the Baking Society took the job in hand. Their possession of Roseland Camp on Canada Hill had given them a footing in the town, and in some measure this was of assistance to them. Early in 1917 the board received information that a bakery situated on the water front was to let, and they made arrangements to secure it with such celerity that by the 24th of March in that year it came into their possession on a three years’ lease. They were not long in possession, however, before they were informed that the lease would not be renewed when it expired. It seems that the private traders of the town had made representations to the owner of the property, and this was the result. For years the traders had proved uniformly successful in preventing Co-operation from getting a foothold in the town, and they were not going to be baulked without an effort to prevent it. But the directors of the Baking Society were just as determined as were the traders of Rothesay, and after lengthy and long-continued negotiations with the directors of the Wholesale Society, who had been on the lookout for premises in Rothesay for many years but had been uniformly unsuccessful in securing them, the Baking Society became, early in 1918, proprietors of the property in which their bakery was situated.
The property which had been purchased included a shop which could be used as a grocery department, and for some time efforts were made to get one or other of the Glasgow societies to open a branch there, but unsuccessfully. The committee of Clydebank Society were inclined to view the matter favourably, but when the question was brought before a general meeting of the members of the society for their approval, they refused to consent. Greenock Central Society were also given the opportunity of opening a branch, but they also were afraid to venture in face of the prevailing restrictions on supplies. The result was that those who had been customers of the Baking Society in Rothesay were invited to form a society of their own, the Wholesale Society and the Baking Society subscribing a large part of the capital between them. The society was formed with Mr William Maxwell, J.P., president of the International Co-operative Alliance, as president. Co-operation had been established in Rothesay.
The traders of the town had not yet shot their bolt, however. The Co-operative bakery was doing well, and it was possible that a Co-operative grocery and provision business would do equally well; but, fortunately for the traders, the local Food Control Committee refused permission to the new society to open their grocery branch, on the plea that the shops already open in the town were sufficient in number to do the trade, and in this attitude they were backed up by the Edinburgh Court. At the beginning of 1919, however, the embargo was removed, and the new society has proved very successful.