collecting them proved very difficult. A lack of available cash was soon felt, for invested capital was only $3,000, and that had been soon spent for operating expenses and purchases. The prospect looked bleak.

"Once, for example, a carload of flour had been ordered, but it could not be unloaded until the bill for $800 was paid. The store, meanwhile, had run out of flour to meet consumer demands, and an emergency meeting of the board of directors had to be called for that evening. There was but one possible decision every board member went out to raise ready cash, visiting property owners and boarding houses where young Finnish working men lived, and with $10 borrowed here, $20 there, the necessary $800 was raised that night, the money deposited at the bank the first thing in the morning, the bill paid, and the flour delivered, so that on that day the housewives were able to bake bread as usual. The incident taught us a lesson: it was necessary to sell shares and have more available cash.

"In the beginning the store was located on the main street, but it was soon moved to Mesaba Avenue, where premises were rented from William Kestilä at a considerably lower figure. The business began to prosper, in part perhaps because the new business manager, John Määttälä, had previous business experience. Later the cooperative built its own store across the street, with money loaned at moderate interest rates by the Duluth business house of Stone-Ordean-Wells Company. The building still stands, though it has been remodelled and expanded through the years."

Good years were nevertheless still followed by lean years. In the 1920s, for example, receipts went down because of the depression and because the business had been put on a cash basis. For a time the board of directors weighed the necessity of returning to sales on credit, but that plan was definitely abandoned in the 1930s, which saw another drop in receipts : sales dropped from $420,000 in 1930 to $150,000 in 1933. Merisalo described the situation as follows : "The cooperative found itself unnecessarily expanded, with too big an inventory, too much personnel, too small a profit margin, and saddled with an unprofitable branch store." The year$ 1932 and 1933 brought an annual 4 % deficit, and even after that, recovery was painfully slow. The branch store was closed in 1935, and portions of the main building were leased out, until fire destroyed the premises in 1938.6

6. The Story of the Virginia Cooperative Society Through 30 Years of Progress. Mlnneapolis, Minnesota, 1939.

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