The Slough & District Co-operative Society was prominent in Slough for over a century, but it did not have an easy start and only established itself properly on the second attempt.

The Slough, Eton & Windsor Observer of 12 December 1891 reported on the meeting at which the establishment of a Co-operative Society was announced. This quote from the article describes the scale of the meeting:

“At the time the meeting was advertised to begin…only about twenty-five or thirty people were present, but shortly afterwards men and women began to arrive in batches of twos, threes, and fours, till, in a very short time, the body of the large room was quite full, and others continuing to arrive, the gallery was requisitioned, and several scores were there accommodated. Indeed, it is questionable whether a larger meeting was ever held in the building.”

Despite a lot of opposition from local trades people, support for the Society overcame objections and the Slough & District Co-operative Society's first shop was opened on the High Street on 15th April 1892.

Each Society member paid a subscription, amounting to a share in the Society. Shop hours were long and staff were poorly paid, with the shop manager receiving the princely sum of 27s (£1.35) a week, with accommodation over the shop thrown in. The first errand boy, meanwhile, didn't last long in the job, which is hardly surprising as he only earned 7s (£0.35) a week!