About Consumers Council of Missouri

The consumer movement in Missouri was founded four decades ago by Alberta Slavin and Joyce Armstrong. These women recognized that the prices of every day groceries varied wildly even within the same grocery chain. Prices were consistently higher in the north side of St. Louis city, where residents had less access to transportation than the same goods just a few miles south in nicer, more affluent areas.

These women organized groups of volunteers, armed with clipboards and grocery lists to conduct regular price checks and then worked meticulously to publish these differences in a weekly newspaper. This work in holding grocers accountable lead to more standardized and fair pricing for St. Louis grocery store consumers.

From there, the Utility Consumers Council of Missouri was formed to fight unfair practices of utility companies. Organized to educate and empower consumers statewide and to advocate for common interests, Consumers Council works to restore the historic balance between consumers and businesses.  We are a membership organization working for the shared interests of all Missouri consumers; we do not represent individual consumers.

Consumers Council of Missouri began advocating in 2006, noting that consumer interests were being ignored in the halls of power, where well-financed lobbies for big business too often prevail.

Consumers Council uses consumer experts to help keep the public informed and to analyze important issues in areas such as energy, insurance and finance.   We advocate for consumers’ interests locally, regionally, statewide and nationally by organizing consumers and educating policy makers through direct contact, email alerts and our website.

Anyone may become a member of Consumers Council of Missouri. We do require annual dues of $10. To join, please fill out our donation form here.

Consumers Council is a non-governmental, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization.