In the United States and Canada, we have a very large organization of hardware stores called Ace Hardware: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ace_Hardware
Each Ace Hardware is independently owned and operated, and each of them uses their own name. But they all belong to a single organization called Ace Hardware, which provides them benefits in ordering, etc. Since each store is independently owned and operated, the "operator" tag does not fit, since the stores are not controlled by a central organization, such as would be the case with a franchise. And since each store is branded uniquely, and don't always use the name Ace Hardware in their name[1] or other material, I don't think "brand" fits either. But we may want to indicate that the relationship between store and co-op exists, so in this case, since they belong to a co-op, I've used co-op=Ace Hardware. If someone has an alternative suggestion for this type of arrangement, I'm interested in hearing it. - Serge [1] Sometimes they do, such as in the case of "Springfield Ace Hardware" (a real place), but two Ace Hardware stores near me are called "Aquarius Hardware" and "AJO Home and Lumber", neither of which indicates any affiliation. _______________________________________________ Tagging mailing list Tagging@openstreetmap.org http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging
