InstitutionClaim Cited
REI
REI is a large U.S. consumer cooperative whose customers can become voting members and whose board governs a national outdoor retailer without outside shareholders. Member ownership makes the beneficiary and residual claim visible, but it does not make employees worker-owners, and board control over nominations, meeting business, and vacancies limits how far a mass membership can set the governing agenda.
How much beneficiary control can a consumer cooperative preserve when membership and retail operations grow to national scale?