PSS Społem

Company type	Consumers' co-operative
Industry	Retail
Founded	1868; 158 years ago (1868)
Number of locations	2400
Area served	Poland
Website	www.spolem.org.pl

PSS Społem is a Polish consumers' co-operative of local grocery stores, founded in 1868.^[1]

During the Partitions of Poland, each of the branches of PSS Społem was formed under different conditions in law, economy and politics. The common character of the consumers' co-operative was patriotism, providing economic and political security against the Partition Powers of the Kingdom of Prussia, Habsburg Austria and the Russian Empire. In 1869, the first consumer co-operatives were established: Merkury in Warsaw, Oszczędność in Radom, and Zgoda in Płock.^[2][3] The idea behind the name of the co-operative chain was Stefan Żeromski, who published the first fortnightly journal propagating the need for co-operation, published in 1906.^{[citation needed]}

During the Polish People's Republic, PSS Społem built a number of modernist grocery stores, inter alia in: Spółdzielczy Dom Handlowy Zenit in Katowice (1962), SDH Central in Łódź (1972), SDH Skarbek in Katowice (1975).^[4][5]

Gallery

• 
  Społem in Brynów, Katowice.
• 
  Społem in Bielsko-Biała.
• 
  Społem in Lublin.
• 
  Społem in Pabianice.
• 
  Społem in Kościerzyna.
• 
  Społem in Ustroń.
• 
  Społem tableware from the early 1980s.
• 
  Spółdzielczy Dom Handlowy Kokos in Gorzów Wielkopolski in 1985.
• 
  Interior of a Społem location in Cieszyn.

References