The Co-op has been going downhill for years, at one time they owned factories and farms for instance in Enderby (where I'm from) there was a boot and shoe factory that employed hundreds, there was also a department store that sold pretty much everything from carpets to washing machines, stereos, televisions, menswear/ladies wear, haberdashery wool (and patterns) with also a separate set of shops including a bakery, greengrocers and a butchers even a bank. all gone now.
Mind you it is possible to stand outside one Co-op (part of the old department store) and look across the road and up the hill a bit to see another Co-op that was formerly a Summerfields but they won't shut that for fear of Lidl/Aldi moving in as competition.
