Coop Announces Cuts In Patronage Refunds

The Coop's current estimate of net profit calls for a 25 per cent decrease in this year's total patronage refund-a decrease which will lower the cash rebate rate from 7.57 per cent to 45 per cent and the charge rebate from 5.57 per cent to 2.5 per cent.

All Coop profits are distributed as rebates to its stockholders.

Coop General Manager Alexander Zavelle said yesterday that the $164,000 drop in net profit is attributable mainly to increased shoplifting, accounting errors and marketing errors. He also blamed a national economic decline for the drop.

Shoplifting in particular has been an increasing problem at the Coop and across the country, Zavelle said. The Coop has apprehended almost twice as many shoplifters this year as a year ago.

In an effort to stem student shoplifting, the Coop plans to end its policy of turning over Harvard and M.I.T. offenders to their school instead of to the police. Implementation of this change awaits approval by Harvard and M.I.T. deans.

Zavelle said that the net profit decline at the Coop also stems from "the whole unsettled atmosphere and the lack of parking" in Harvard Square. "People call up and ask if it's safe to drive through the Square," he explained.

Trashing

Although the Board of Directors' conference table is adorned with two large ash trays full of Coop-bound bricks from the recent riots, Zavelle takes issue with those who would trash the Coop in social protest.

"If you're attacking us, you're really not attacking the capitalist system," he said, referring to the Coop's status as a cooperative society. "We're sort of an oddity in the capitalist system," he added.