Under new management, the Co-Op Supermarket has more than doubled its monthly sales since August, and is seeking its first profit, and dividends, in years.

Buoyed by a number of initiatives brought in by new general manager, Harrison Isaac, The Co-Op is succeeding at getting a wider cross-section of Bermuda's residents to its Union Street location.

Providing an increasing number of new services, it is seeking to be more competitive in the crowded landscape of Bermuda's grocers.

It has beefed up security to stamp out years of persistent theft from the store, and, weeks ago, began serving hot, inexpensive meals at lunch-time -- a move that is helping to bring new faces in. It is also lowering prices.

"We first had to arrest the shrinkage of inventory,'' Mr. Isaac said.

"There were not enough controls. There were totally insufficient and inadequate internal procedures to prevent us from being victims of different types of theft. Now that those things are in place, we are finding out how much it was happening before.'' Mr. Isaac took over a year ago in March, and changed one thing immediately.

Shoplifters, who previously risked only being barred from the shop, were suddenly being prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Newly-installed security cameras and a more organised approach quite quickly reduced what was a rampant shoplifting problem in the store.

The publishing of the supermarket's own free, full-colour quarterly newsletter is, in itself, a spectacular surprise. Mr. Isaac believes the increase in patronage, and the diversity of that patronage, is in part due to the high quality publication.

He is personally involved in the development of the VIP News on his computer, which helps in cutting some of the costs. And with just two editions out so far, he is already inviting people to subscribe to the publication.

And bona fide Co-Op shoppers can reduce the cost of their groceries by becoming a shareholder of the Bermuda Workers' Co-operative Society (BWCS), the owner of the Co-Op.

In fact, more than ever these days, the supermarket is trying to remedy a long-held misconception, perpetuated, he feels, by the media, but rarely corrected in the past. Mr. Isaac said the 31-year-old Co-Op is not owned by the Bermuda Industrial Union (BIU) and never was. It does rent its premises from the BIU.

There are already 1,300 members of the co-operative and anyone else in Bermuda can join by simply purchasing at least ten shares at $2.40 each.

Mr. Isaac said, "There is no connection whatsoever between the Bermuda Workers' Co-operative Society and the Bermuda Industrial Union. When it started, it is true that many of the people were affiliated with both organisations and Ottiwell Simmons had been chairman, while he was president of the BIU, but there is no legal connection.

"We are a sister organisation because we occupy their building and many of the shoppers and members of the co-operative are union members. But they may also be members of St. Paul's A.M.E. Church. No one is making a connection between the church and the supermarket.

"The Co-Op suffered over the last years before my arrival and was economically depressed. The creditors were of the opinion that all they needed to do was go to the union to get their money.'' Last June Mr. Isaac met with creditors and successfully enlisted their support in bringing the Co-Op back to a viable business. Bermuda business people stood by the supermarket and have been a huge help on the road to its recovery.

But while credit may have been available to the supermarket because some business people may have assumed it was a BIU entity and the union would be good for the money, the GM conceded the Co-Op is now having to build its own credit reputation.

Mr. Isaac is aiming to have annual general meetings of the Society and annual reports to members, matters that have gone missing in recent years. One concept which has already begun to fly is the "take-out'' service, starting at noon.

"That has been very successful since we began it just before Christmas,'' said Mr. Isaac. "In fact, the first meals were given away to street people on the first day.'' Real changes for the Co-Op began to show up in September, when monthly sales were up 19 percent from August. The gross take in October leapt again, 53 percent better than August. November's sales were 61 percent better than August and December's sales were 105 percent above August.

The supermarket has about 15 full-time staff and 15 part-time staff and is open from 7.30 a.m. to 10 p.m., remaining open to midnight on Friday and Saturday. It is just another feature being employed to compete with larger supermarket operations that enjoy the benefit of volume buying.

SUPERMARKET SUCCESS -- Co-Op general manager Harrison Isaac.

KEEPING CUSTOMERS INFORMED -- The new Co-Op newsletter.