strike and the necessity of extending credit prevented any expansion, and the post-strike situation was no better, for it brought a significant drop in the number of Finns in the community, revealed the lack of interest of other national groups toward such an enterprise, and pointed up the inadequacy of the quarters being occupied. The result, however, was not the end of cooperative endeavors but the start of an entirely new enterprise.

The Hibbing Consumers' Cooperative Company was established in 1920 by Emil Tarkkanen, Charles Kivi, Wäinö Mattila, Ed. Kolu, Altti Lehto, Joe Juvonen, Herman Haapala, Charles Sipola, Jacob Toppila, and M. H. Nyström, its business manager, and all serving as its first board of directors. The fixtures of the Elantohoused cooperative were purchased, as well as its stock on hand, and business continued at the same address until 1923, when a move was made to 1916 Third Avenue East. There were obstacles to overcome in the beginning - resentment of individual businessmen, political dissensions among the membership itself - but sales continued to grow, reaching a figure of over $136,000 in 1924 and 1925. During that period Arvid E. Koivisto served as business manager. He had been a student at Valparaiso University, had studied at the Cooperative Central, and was a capable business man and exponent of the cooperative system. He later transferred to the Accounting Department of the Cooperative Central, but

Cooperative Store in Hibbing.

during his stay in Hibbing the local cooperative expanded to the point where a branch store was opened, 1925, in South Hibbing. Actually, this marked the beginning of a transitional phase for both Hibbing and the cooperative. For Hibbing itself it meant the ever-increasing shift population to South Hibbing, while the cooperative was forced to close its North Hibbing store in

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