Research Symposium on Responsible Retailing

Presenter: Dr. Vasiliki Athanasakou, Saint Mary’s University 

Abstract: Biodiversity loss is increasingly recognized as a systemic financial and operational risk that challenges firms to rethink how they create value and sustain legitimacy. This project examines whether and how companies respond to biodiversity pressures by forming cross-sector partnerships, i.e. collaborations that link businesses, governments, and nonprofit organizations to address shared ecological challenges. Grounded in the theory of the firm, particularly the incomplete-contract and boundaries-of-the-firm literature, the study investigates how such partnerships can serve as credible governance mechanism for managing biodiversity risk. By connecting biodiversity risk to corporate strategy and inter organizational collaborations, the project highlights how ecological interdependence may end up reshaping the boundaries between business and society, offering new insights into the transition toward a sustainable, nature-positive economy. 

Presenter: Dr. Jocelyn Grabke, Saint Mary’s University  

Abstract: Many secondhand retailers use a resale model in which they purchase clothing items from consumers to resell. This selective purchasing strategy inherently involves the rejection of items, introducing a conditional element to the participation in the circular economy. Across three studies, this research shows that this rejection can undermine consumers’ willingness to engage in subsequent sustainable behaviours. These consumers adopt compensatory strategies, with heightened preferences for symbolic, but not effortful sustainable behaviours. These findings offer opportunities for secondhand retailers to design practices that maintain, rather than diminish, consumer sustainability motives. 

Presenter: Dr. Daphne Rixon, Saint Mary’s University   

Abstract: The purpose of this case study is to examine the somewhat unusual business alliance between Sobey’s and the Village Grocery Co-operative (Foodland) located in St. Peter’s, Nova Scotia. We focus firstly on how a co-operative can retain its co-operative identify within a for-profit franchise arrangement; secondly, on its transition from the retirement of its founding members to current board members; and thirdly, on how rural co-operative grocery stores contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. 

The Village Grocery Co-operative started nearly 35 years ago with its members with its members subsequently securing a franchise arrangement with Sobey’s Foodland chain This is significant since on the surface it would appear that the objectives of each organization are very different, with Sobey’s focused on profit maximization and the Village Grocery Co-operative concentrating on achieving enough of a profit to provide good wages to its employees and patronage dividends to its members. This case study will demonstrate how two apparently diametrically opposed retail businesses can collaborate to provide essential goods in rural communities while at the same time remain true to their co-operative principles. The high cost of food in rural communities creates an opportunity for the citizens to either create a new co-operative grocery store or convert an existing grocery store to a co-operative. Keeping full-service grocery stores in rural communities helps with the local economy, provides jobs, and provides fresh and nutritious foods.  The case study also examines the linkages between co-operative grocery stories and the following selected United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): 

• SDG #2 Zero Hunger: provision of reasonably priced groceries in rural communities. 
• SDG #3 Good Health & Wellbeing: provision of reasonably priced, nutritious, fresh foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and other foods for making well-balanced meals. 
• SDG #8 Decent Work & Economic Growth: provision of good-paying jobs in rural communities; sharing of profits through patronage dividends to members. Locally-owned grocery stores have a multiplier effect of 1.7 in communities, thus contributing to community economic development.  

* It is a joint work for Dr. Fiona Duguid and Dr. Daphne Rixon. Dr. Duguid is a Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence in Accounting and Reporting for Co-operatives, and an Adjunct Professor for the Masters of Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions at Saint Mary’s University.