Coop Unlikely To Pay Rebate For Last Year

The Harvard Cooperative Society is unlikely to offer a monetary rebate to its members for the 1993-94 school year, officials said yesterday. If the society's board of directors votes as expected during a meeting Thursday, the store will not pay a refund for the first time since records have been kept.

The rebate has declined steadily in recent years. Last year, it dipped to an all-time low of one percent.

Traditionally, profits that the store earns from its members are returned in the form of a rebate, which is a fixed percentage. For example, with a one-percentage rebate, any student who spent $500 at the Coop would receive a check for five dollars at the end of the year.

The Coop, which serves the needs of both Harvard and MIT, has roughly 135,000 members, of which some 20,000 to 25,000 are students.

In what the store says is an attempt to compensate students for the rebate loss, the Coop is already offering a 10 percent discount on fall textbook purchases. The store has had similar discounts in recent years.

Some Coop members interviewed yesterday said that because of the textbook discount and the small recent rebates, they don't think the loss of rebate will hurt.

"I think that I'll be making a lot more money this way," said Michael A. Laufer '96.

But alumni and other non-student members--who are not in the market for textbooks--may not find the new rebate offer satisfactory.

Declining Profits

The rebate vanished because of declining profits, said Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy Jr. '73.

"There will probably be less of a profit this year for members," Murphy said. "Over the last three to four years business has been dropping Last year we lost three million dollars in volume."

Murphy said the Coop has lost money due to stiff competition in Harvard Square.

"The competition has become much more intense in music and books, especially clothing, with all the retail stories in the Square," Murphy said, "and in paper goods with competitors like Staples."

The textbook discount will not hurt the Coop's profits, Murphy said. The store will make up the lost revenue by eliminating other discounts and promotional events, he said.

In the future, the rebate could reappear, Murphy said.

"We've been trying to make a lot of changes," he said. "Over last year we tried to reduce our prices--we have Levi's jeans at $29.99 everyday....Mass. Army/Navy may offer them for $25 on a special but we offer low prices everyday."

Murphy said that during the past few years the Coop has redesigned the store layout, cut prices and switched to a computerized records system.

Students can receive the 10 percent refund for textbooks purchased between August 24 and October 15. Members can claim their discounts at the Coop by presenting their receipts October 17-31

In the future, the rebate could reappear, Murphy said.

"We've been trying to make a lot of changes," he said. "Over last year we tried to reduce our prices--we have Levi's jeans at $29.99 everyday....Mass. Army/Navy may offer them for $25 on a special but we offer low prices everyday."

Murphy said that during the past few years the Coop has redesigned the store layout, cut prices and switched to a computerized records system.

Students can receive the 10 percent refund for textbooks purchased between August 24 and October 15. Members can claim their discounts at the Coop by presenting their receipts October 17-31