Dominique Mazloom, our new Flow of Goods Manager

Friendship Store

At the moment, the Friendship store frame is up and insulation is being added this week. Over the course of the spring, we’ll continue to see exciting developments on the site. The roof will be finished next week, and the retaining wall around the east and south sides of the parking lot should be finished soon thereafter.

Next week the panel and metal siding installation will begin. In the coming weeks, much of the work will take place inside the structure. The second floor concrete was poured on April 10, and the concrete for the first floor will be poured the first week of May. If you pass the construction site on 38th St. and 3rd Avenue S. you’ll get a good view of how our store is progressing.

As for staffing, Friendship Store Manager Raynardo Williams says that the Assistant Store Manager and department manager jobs are posted now through Wednesday, April 22. Please spread the word and visit our careers page for job descriptions and details on applying. The opening date for the Friendship store is slated for early October.

Co-op Creamery

You may have noticed banners in the Co-op Creamery windows announcing the summer opening of the café! We’re hard at work on the interior of the café at this point, and additional exterior signage will go up in the coming weeks.

Last week we installed coolers, ceiling and lights in the production kitchen. Additional equipment has been arriving over the past two weeks, and will continue to do so over the next couple weeks. The painting and tile work in the café wrapped up last Friday.

Duct work on the east side of the building is almost complete. We are waiting on final details before the loading dock re-model begins. Once approved, that work will commence very quickly. This means excavation in the loading dock area and the parking lot will be repaved. We’re on track for a mid-July opening.

In staffing news, we’re pleased to welcome Dominique Mazloom our Flow of Goods Supervisor. Dominique has a wealth of logistics education and experience, coupled with enthusiasm for Seward Co-op and natural foods. Dominique’s first focus will be to work with co-op staff to develop and implement a distribution system for product being made at the Creamery and Franklin store. Please join us in welcoming Dominique to our co-op community!

Informational Open House on Employment

Seward Co-op will host an informational open house on employment: Attend the open house at the Sabathani Community Center (310 E. 38th St., Minneapolis) in room #103 on Tuesday, May 19, from 5–8 p.m. This is in advance of the Friendship store hiring fair we will host in August. The open house will provide an introduction to natural foods cooperatives and information about working at Seward Co-op. Representatives from human resources will be available to answer questions, and staff from various store departments will be on hand to talk about their work.