How Do Mormon Economic Cooperatives Like Deseret Industries Work?

LDS Perspective

The economic cooperatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Deseret Industries and the earlier historical model of Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (ZCMI), are rooted in revealed principles of consecration, stewardship, and covenant obligation to care for the poor. Deseret Industries (DI) operates as a thrift store and vocational rehabilitation center, providing employment training, work experience, and job placement services for individuals facing barriers to employment, such as those with disabilities, limited education, or other challenges. Participants learn skills in retail, sorting, pricing, and customer service, and the stores sell donated goods at affordable prices, with proceeds supporting the Church's welfare and humanitarian efforts. This mod

Historical Perspective

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints maintains a distinctive economic cooperative tradition rooted in 19th-century communitarian experiments and institutionalized through the modern welfare system established during the Great Depression. Deseret Industries (DI), founded in 1938, operates as a vocational rehabilitation facility and thrift store chain rather than a traditional retail enterprise, reflecting theological commitments to consecration and self-sufficiency that have characterized Mormon economic organization since the pioneer era. The cooperative economic impulse traces to the United Order experiments of the 1870s, when Brigham Young attempted to implement Joseph Smith's Law of Consecration through community-based resource sharing. While these 19th-century communes larg