Special Note to former employees:
A number of W-2 forms were returned as "address unknown." If you did not receive a Co-Op W-2 for the first three months of 2008, please send an email to with your name and current address and phone number to info@coopmarkets.com or call Board President Joan Staples a 773-288-8196.
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On January 28, 2008 the the Hyde Park Co-Op Market went out of business. The Hyde Park Cooperative Society remanded its lease to the University of Chicago in return for forgiveness by the University of more than $1,000,000 in debt and payment of some $3,000,000 with which to partially cover other debts.
Soon, the Co-Op will seek court relief through bankruptcy. Information about this process will be published periodically on the website and can also be found in the Hyde Park Herald.
With the money received from the University, the Co-Op has paid most vendors 70% of what was owed them. Settlements are being made with the remaining vendors at this time. It also paid employees for sick days and vacation leave, and a modest amount as a retention bonus and for one month of continuing medical benefits.
No money will go to members; their shares are now valueless. Members may count their shares as a tax write-off on their 2008 forms. They can be counted as capital losses on 2008 tax forms (see this tax notice.)
The society has no office or staff. The only way of reaching it is through an email to info@coopmarkets.com which will be forwarded by the webmaster to an appropriate member of the Board.
Documents that contain the personal information of members have been shredded. Those that may be needed for future reference, relating to personnel and vendor relations, are being stored by Iron Mountain, a company that specializes in secure storage. The Hyde Park Historical Society has placed historical documents from the Co-Op in its archives and these are available for study by the general public in the Special Collections room of the University of Chicago's Reentering Library.
Though the store is closed, the Society exists with 19,000 members and a Board of nine elected members. The Board President is Joan Staples who can be reached at 773-288-8196 or joan1321@yahoo.com
From now on, there will be no everGreen published and it is unlikely that information can be distributed by mail; there simply is no money. To stay informed, visit this web site and read The Hyde Park Herald. For answers to your questions, write info@coopmarkets.com.