Not a bad brand, but it's implementation ended up being very much on the cheap being that it came at such confused time for CRS though.Awww, I loved the Co-operative Pioneer brand, with the logo which I can only assume was inspired by somebody staring at the Windows logo bottom left of their screen. Ahead of the game though, in ditching the cloverleaf device, and the 'welcome' signage was definitely a retrograde step.
When they bought Lo-Cost from Argyll in 1994, the old branding (which I think went back to at least the early 80's if not the late 70's) was very quickly replaced by something which was (at the time) a lot more modern and (slightly) more upmarket. There was a new red & yellow logo and a new slogan (remember 'Enjoy a Lo-Cost of living' ?). Full new exterior signeage and cosmetic refits came with it. As far as I'm aware, this was rolled out to most if not all of the store estate by 1995.
Then only a year later, they decided to rebrand Lo-Cost, Leos and Pioneer all to 'Co-Operative Pioneer'. I don't know what kind of money was spent at Leos (or the original Pioneers) but being that the Lo-Cost stores had only had money spent on them a year before, the Pioneer rebranding was very cheaply done and for all the stores I've seen amounted to simply covering over all the new shiney Lo-Cost signs and replacing them with a couple of premade Pioneer boards which were quite small and not customised to the individual store (many stores then ended up with huge blank areas on their shopfronts) and some window vinyls. At the time it all looked a bit crap. Presumably something more extensive would have eventually followed when full refits came about but of course it never happened when CWS took over a few years later who simply wanted a chain of Co-Op branded food stores and had no interest in retaining anything which CRS had done - the bastards even shut down Homeworld.
I'll agree that CWS's 'Welcome' branding (and that stupid script font) was a retrograde step. It *did* mean proper refits for a lot of the Lo-Cost/Pioneer stores, but the new format those refits brought in essentially downgraded these stores from supermarkets into oversized convenience shops with higher pricing and nothing like the ranging or facilities that had been there before. Definately not the way forward, with what were once bust bustling supermarkets turned into relatively quiet shops yet still occupying the same units and having to pay the same rents. No surprise that a lot of these stores were either sold or closed.
I can't agree with you on the cloverleaf logo though. To me, that *is* the definitive co-op logo, and if there is a move towards a single branding, then that is what should be used. 'The Co-Operative' which TCG use is just too wordy and consequently, people just don't say it. There have been some excellent branding schemes with the cloverleaf logo in recent years (the PSW 'Your Local...' chain which existed before PSW was taken over by TCG for instance) and I view TCG's 'The Co-Operative Food' brand with it's awkward stupid name which no one in the real world actually uses to very much be a retrograde step from the various names which those stores traded under before.
