Hey Rosa,My experience suggests that this is a fairly common set up for co-ops and non-profit shops. It is done because in a lot of places the rules around what you can sell (and for how much) for non-profits are pretty strict, which can make it difficult to get designated as such. It can also be hard to get distributor accounts when you don't sell "traditionally". Any collective can co-own any kind of organization, so if non-profit status isn't important it's just a matter of putting the collective members on the paperwork and ensuring any profits are appropriately distributed.
There should be a fairly straightforward legal model for this already in place in your locality.
As to how well it works, is it a good idea/a bad idea? I think it depends on who sets it up (and why, and who it ultimately serves vs. who is it meant to serve). In my personal experience, there was an ongoing power (and resource) struggle between the the nonprofit and the for profit entity-- reorganizing them on paper produced an actual reorganization in how people related to one another-- and I think it was very bad. It was the wrong decision for our group and we didn't really fully understand it when we did it. It didn't have to end up like that, but we really struggled to understand the legal structure and it created a lot of difficulties and strife and it had a lot to do with the money-- who was making the money, who "got" to spend it, quality of work experience based on the cash flow, things like that.
I think that's something to at least spend some time talking about before leaping in and getting it off the ground. Cash really has a way of affecting a group's dynamics. The pressures of operating a commercially successful shop can also be at odds with collectivist values and norms.
Hope that helps.
Heather
Former ED of Back Alley Bikes
BikeBike 2016 Co-Organizer
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: Bike collectives that run in commercial bike shops
(Brad Wentworth)
2. Re: Bike collectives that run in commercial bike shops
(Luis Fernandez)
3. Re: City 'backed' co-ops (samuelchristianjensen@gmail.com)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Brad Wentworth <bwentworth@gmail.com>
To: thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2018 13:45:17 -0400
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike collectives that run in commercial bike shops
Hi Rosa,
Charlie's Freewheels in Toronto, Canada shares space with
Ya! Bikes, a sort-of-for-profit bike shop that directly supports the amazing work Charlie's Freewheels done. I believe the arrangement was set up this way deliberately, but I know there's at least one Charlie's staff member on this listserv so I would defer to them.
Cheerio,
Brad
Hi guys,
Do you know any bike collective that works in the same place as a comercial bike shop?
Like on the shop closed hours?
Any thoughts about how it can be a good or very bad ideia?
We need to move from the place where we are for some years, and one possibility is to move temporarily to a friendly comercial bike shop. But I would like to know if any or similar experiences occurred, and how it went.
Thanks!
rosa
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Luis Fernandez <luis@casildo.com>
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Cc:
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2018 14:08:37 -0400
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] Bike collectives that run in commercial bike shops
Hi Rosa,
Back alley bikes (a bike kitchen) is also in the same building as hub of detroit (bike shop). I think the bike shop came second, though and the two are run by the same group.
Was lucky enough to be able to visit them recently - great place and people.
Reach out to them as well?
Luis
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: samuelchristianjensen@gmail.com
To: The Think Tank <thethinktank@lists.bikecollectives.org>
Cc: sylvgrb@gmail.com
Bcc:
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2018 11:41:53 -0700
Subject: Re: [TheThinkTank] City 'backed' co-ops
The Iowa City Bike Library (
bikelibrary.org) has received various forms of city support over the years, including nearly free rent in a city-owned building while I worked there a few years ago. You might want to reach out to them for more info.
Recycle Ithaca's Bicycles is kind of sponsored by our city - by proxy.
Our parent organization, though independent, is substantially funded by
the city (among other sources).
RIBs isn't a co-op, though. Our history and community has a lot of
background with cooperative structure and mutual aid, but we have a
hierarchical structure planned for the foreseeable future.
Our city also has a infrastructure advocacy organization, and a bike
share, so your situation and ours may be similar.
-cyclista Nicholas
On 2018-08-30 16:21, Sylvie Baele wrote:
> Hi folks!
>
> I am currently pursing dual master's degrees in Env. Sciences and
> Public
> Administration. One of my courses is Urban Transit, and a project for
> it is
> a mock presentation tailored for a City Counsel study session. Another
> organization in town already focuses on advocating for infrastructure
> and
> we already have a bike share, so I would like to 'educate council' on
> bicycle co-ops. Has anyone done this? Or even better (maybe I'm
> dreaming),
> but does anyone know of any co-ops that are city-sponsored in some
> form?
>
> Sylvie
>
> ____________________________________
>
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