What Coopsco does

Coopsco, legally the Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire (FQCMS), is a member-owned federation of school cooperatives headquartered in Montreal, Canada. It operates 51 member cooperatives running 156 points of sale — 87 bookstores and 69 food-service/cafeteria locations — inside roughly 90 educational institutions across Quebec and Ontario, reaching an estimated 300,000 francophone students and reporting market penetration above 92% in French-language universities and over 90% in public CEGEPs. Its core offering is on-campus retail of textbooks, course materials, stationery, art supplies, IT equipment, and general merchandise, supplemented by cafeterias, rechargeable gift cards valid across the network, and membership benefits including lifetime cards, rebates, and democratic voting rights.

The federation runs its operations on a proprietary technology stack developed by its wholly-owned subsidiary Campus Innovations (acquired November 2013), which provides Campus Gestion for inventory, point-of-sale, and reporting, and Campus Web for cooperative websites, online stores, and content management. A separate wholly-owned subsidiary, Groupe Fides (acquired November 2011), operates a publishing house covering general literature (Éditions Fides), educational textbooks (Fides Éducation), and paperbacks (Biblio Fides). Member services are delivered through an Extranet portal for cooperative administrators and a public-facing technical support portal.

Coopsco monetizes primarily through retail product sales (textbooks and general merchandise) and food service transactions at campus locations, with one-time lifetime membership fees set independently by each cooperative and rechargeable gift cards providing a secondary transaction-fee stream. The go-to-market model is community-led: cooperatives are embedded in educational institutions and democratic governance (boards of directors elected from students, faculty, and staff) drives both customer acquisition and labor. Annual events such as the Gala COOPSCO and the biennial Congress reinforce the network, while surpluses are reinvested as scholarships, donations, and sponsorships rather than paid to external shareholders.

Name

Coopsco

Legal name

Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire

Website

https://coopsco.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Coopsco (Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire) is a member-owned federation of 51 school cooperatives operating 156 on-campus bookstores and food-service points of sale across 90 educational institutions in Quebec and Ontario, serving roughly 300,000 francophone students with retail, food, and cooperative-governance services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Retail Services

NAICS

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers (459), Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Retailers (4594), Educational Support Services (61171), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Retail-Grocery Stores (5411)

akta.pro primary industry

Member-Owned Food Cooperatives (CRAHALAA)

Keywords

• School cooperative retail
• Campus bookstore services
• Student food services
• Educational retail network
• Cooperative publishing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Product Sales: Coopsco cooperatives sell books, course notes, general literature, stationery, art supplies, IT equipment, backpacks, outdoor accessories, gift items, and more through their retail locations and online stores.
2. Food Services: Some cooperatives operate cafeterias providing food services to students, faculty, and staff at educational institutions.
3. Rechargeable Gift Cards: Sale of rechargeable gift cards valid across participating school cooperatives in Quebec. Cards are activated with a chosen value and can be recharged in-store.
4. Publishing (Groupe Fides): Groupe Fides publishes general literature, educational textbooks (Fides Éducation), and paperback books (Biblio Fides), acquired by the network in November 2011.
5. Membership Fees: Members pay a fee (set by each cooperative) to obtain a lifetime card. Membership provides access to discounts, rebates, and the right to participate in democratic governance.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Coopsco is a federation of school cooperatives that operates 87 on-campus bookstores and 69 food service locations across 90 educational institutions in Quebec and Ontario, serving approximately 300,000 francophone students, faculty, and staff. The network sells textbooks, course materials, general literature, stationery, art supplies, IT equipment, backpacks, and gift items through its bookstores, while food services provide cafeteria offerings. Additional offerings include rechargeable gift cards, the Groupe Fides publishing imprint (educational textbooks and general literature), and a lifetime cooperative membership that entitles holders to voting rights, discounts, and member rebates.

Product overview

Coopsco is a cooperative network (Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire) operating 156 points of sale across 51 cooperatives serving 90 educational institutions with approximately 300,000 francophone students. The core offering includes 87 bookstore locations (selling textbooks, course materials, general literature, stationery, art supplies, and IT equipment) and 69 food service/cafeteria operations. The network is supported by technology subsidiaries including Campus Innovations (developed in November 2013) providing point-of-sale and management solutions, Campus Web for online store platforms, and Campus Gestion for ERP/inventory management. The network also includes Groupe Fides publishing house (acquired November 2011) with Éditions Fides, Fides Éducation, and Biblio Fides. Additional offerings include rechargeable gift cards usable across the network, Extranet for member administration, and technical support portals.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cooperative Bookstores 87 on-campus bookstore locations within Quebec and Ontario educational institutions selling textbooks, course materials, general literature, stationery, art supplies, IT equipment, backpacks, outdoor accessories, and gift items to students, faculty, and staff.
• Cooperative Food Services 69 food service and cafeteria operations within member educational institutions serving students, faculty, and staff during the academic day.
• Rechargeable Gift Cards (Carte-cadeau rechargeable) Rechargeable prepaid gift cards that can be activated with a chosen initial value and recharged in-store, redeemable across participating school cooperatives in Quebec until the balance is exhausted.
• Groupe Fides Publishing Publishing imprint acquired by the federation in November 2011, comprising Éditions Fides for general literature, Fides Éducation for educational textbooks, and Biblio Fides for paperback books.

Quantifiable outcome

• 92% market penetration in French-language universities
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Campus InnovationscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 November 2013Campus Innovations became a subsidiary of the COOPSCO network in November 2013. The company develops innovative technological solutions that meet the needs of school cooperatives, providing specialized management systems.
• Groupe FidescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2011Groupe Fides is a publishing house acquired by the COOPSCO network in November 2011. It groups together Fides editions (general literature), Fides Éducation (educational textbooks), and Biblio Fides (paperback books) under one umbrella.
• FQCMS (Fédération québécoise des coopératives en milieu scolaire)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFQCMS is the official federation name for COOPSCO, providing representation, cooperative education, and administrator training services to member cooperatives.
• Co-operatorsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCo-operators is a sponsor of the Gala COOPSCO awards, providing prizes for cooperatives and jury's choice awards. As a cooperative itself, they share alignment with the COOPSCO values.
• Desjardins and Caisse d'économie solidaireminorGTM or Marketing PartnerDesjardins and the Caisse d'économie solidaire sponsor the Administrator of the Year award at the Gala COOPSCO, supporting recognition of outstanding cooperative administrators.
• LussierminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLussier is a sponsor of the Gala COOPSCO awards, contributing to the recognition of excellence within the cooperative network.
• La Fondation pour l'éducation à la coopération et la mutualitéminorGTM or Marketing PartnerFoundation sponsoring the Emerging Administrator of the Year award at Gala COOPSCO, supporting education in cooperation and mutualism.
• CQCM (Conseil québécois de la coopération et de la mutualité)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCQCM invited COOPSCO administrators to participate in an international mission to Belgium as part of the CAP project supported by Erasmus+, enabling cross-cultural cooperative exchange.
• Compétence CultureminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompétence Culture is the sectoral workforce committee in culture responsible for managing the Libraire (Bookstore Worker) professional standard, in collaboration with COOPSCO representatives.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Dominant online general retailer competing with Coopsco bookstores on textbook pricing, used books, and shipping convenience. Represents the principal external pricing pressure on the physical cooperative bookstore channel.
• Indigo Books & Music: Canada's largest bookstore retailer with both physical superstores and a major online channel. Competes for general literature, gift, and stationery sales that Coopsco bookstores also carry, but does not specialize in educational institutions.
• Desjardins Group: Québec's largest cooperative financial institution, with deep presence in the same francophone educational communities Coopsco serves and a sponsor of the Gala COOPSCO awards. Operates a different sector (financial services) but shares the cooperative governance, member-ownership, and Quebec institutional DNA.

Regional players

• Renaud-Bray: Largest French-language independent bookstore chain in Quebec, with retail locations and e-commerce. Same language market and overlapping customer base as Coopsco's bookstores, but operates as a privately held chain rather than a cooperative network and serves the broader Quebec public.
• FNAC: Major French retailer selling books, stationery, electronics, and gifts across France and parts of Europe. Comparable retail mix to Coopsco's general-merchandise bookstore assortment, but operates as a commercial chain rather than a cooperative and serves a different national market.

Direct peers

• Chegg: Online textbook rental and student services platform serving post-secondary students directly. Competes with Coopsco's bookstore segment for textbook dollars and represents the digital-native channel that increasingly pressures physical campus bookstores.
• Follett Higher Education: Largest operator of college bookstores in North America, running campus stores and digital textbook platforms. Comparable to Coopsco in core product mix (textbooks, supplies, technology) and customer segment, but operates a corporate franchise model rather than member-owned cooperative.
• VitalSource Technologies: Digital textbook delivery platform used by higher-education institutions worldwide. Directly competitive with Coopsco's physical textbook distribution model in the digital course-material segment, particularly relevant to their Fides Éducation textbook arm.
• Barnes & Noble Education: Operates ~770 college bookstores across US higher-education campuses, selling textbooks, supplies, apparel, and convenience items directly to students. Closest direct analogue to Coopsco's 87 cooperative bookstores, with the same embedded-on-campus distribution model and student-customer base.

Others

• Coop Zone: Canadian cooperative development organization supporting the creation of worker and multi-stakeholder cooperatives. Functionally comparable to Coopsco's role as a federation representing and supporting school cooperatives, though without retail operations.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/Coopstefoy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coopsco

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Coopsco