Leo Sanders would probably prefer to remain incognito as he peruses the aisles of Seward Community Co-op in south Minneapolis, filling his reusable containers with freshly ground almond butter, mushrooms, broccoli, kale and sprouts, grass-fed butter, fresh bread, sheep's milk yogurt from Vermont and dates from California.
But as Seward celebrates 50 years of service this month — making it the oldest co-op in the Twin Cities — many supporters point out that Sanders deserves a shout-out, too.
The trim 72-year-old vegetarian (who's never been to the gym, preferring to ride his bike or walk) has been connected to the co-op's many iterations for nearly as long, first as a customer in the late 1970s, then serving in many management positions up until his retirement in 2017.
Now he's once again a happy regular customer. If he finds on his retirement income that it's a stretch to buy those fresh dates, there's no way he's shopping elsewhere. He'd just "go back to work" at Seward, he said.
They'd certainly have him.
"Leo is the definition of the kind of young people who started co-ops," said Liz Liddiard Wozniak, a former Seward human resources manager who worked with Sanders for more than 20 years.
She credits Sanders with helping to create a "safe and respectful" workplace culture back in the day, including instituting training of employees. "I cherish all the things we did together," she said.
Current general manager Sean Doyle agreed. "Leo has always been a lovely and constructive leader, with incredible positivity for the co-op business model. He's devoted a good part of his life to helping it become the successful community-owned business that it is." Doyle noted that Seward grew out of the North Country Co-op (NCC), which was founded in 1971 in a building owned by Augsburg University. NCC traced its origin to an informal "people's pantry" that was located in the People's Center on the West Bank.