The Harvard Cooperative Society (the Coop) has been a fixture at Harvard for as long as anyone can remember.

Students still shop there for books and school supplies, and alumni return for Harvard sweatshirts and shot glasses.

But the Coop's image is far from positive in the eyes of Harvard students. Students say prices are too high, selection isn't good enough and membership doesn't pay.

In the past few years, profits have dropped sharply, causing the Coop to eliminate its once-substantial rebate. Last year was the first time in institutional memory the Coop operated at a loss.

Some say retailing has grown too competitive and specialized for a multi-purpose department store like the Coop to stay in business.

Others, such as those on the board of directors, say the Coo simply needs to reevaluate its goals and purpose in order to remain viable in the twenty-first century.

A Negative Image

"The Coop is just one big gimmick, and they can't make up their minds what gimmick they want to be," Elisabeth L. Ritter '97 said earlier this semester.

At the same time, Sarah E. Jackson '98 questioned the Coop's commitment to its student members.

"Books are really expensive and I buy them all at the Coop," Jackson said. "I do not think the Coop has the student body's interest in mind."

In the fall, when the Coop gave a 10 percent rebate to members on all textbook purchases, many undergraduates said they didn't even know about it.

"I knew it was sometime in October, but it wasn't publicized enough," said Peter S. Galatin '95. "I didn't have an excuse to go the Coop [and] that's where all the signs were."

These critical sentiments prevail on campus. Students routinely criticize the Coop's apparent disregard for student needs, lack of adequate publicity and exorbitant prices.

But this dissatisfaction is not new.

"Twenty years ago when I went here, there was a negative view [of the Coop]," says Coop President Jeremiah P. Murphy, Jr. '73. "The Coop is perceived as part of the establishment."