Who We Are
Vision: Inspiring people and communities to enjoy a healthy and sustainable future.
Mission: We are a member owned food cooperative committed to outstanding service to our members, patrons and the greater community, leading the way with education, healthy food choices and sustainable products.
Lakewinds’ Natural Foods History
Lakewinds Natural Foods, a full-service cooperative grocery, has served the western suburbs for over 35 years and currently has locations in Minnetonka and Chanhassen, Minnesota. The soul of the co-op has always been the people involved, and Lakewinds has enjoyed a high level of commitment from everyone: members, staff and board alike. Lakewinds is a proud past recipient of the "Retailer of the Year" award from the Consumer Cooperative Managers Association.
In the beginning, Edie Green and her friends Helen Davis and Edith Stodola founded the Minnetonka Buying Club in 1972; an idea that came to life from Edie’s experiences shopping at North Country Co-op in Minneapolis and a desire to have natural foods available in the western suburbs. Off to a good start, the club set up bulk bins, scoops, and even a self-serve cheese cutting station on Edie’s front porch.
The club moved from Edie’s front porch to the basement of Helen Davis’ (long since demolished) Glen Lake home. Here, a handful of volunteers stocked as many natural food items as they could find. The Davis’ garden provided organically grown produce and the hen house provided fresh eggs. The members loved buying food for their families from “people they could trust." The club moved to a couple of other homes before settling into the famous “Red Shack” behind St. Luke Church in 1975 – also the same year the co-op officially formed.
By 1983, the little red shack was overwhelmed, and the co-op moved to a small building at Minnetonka Boulevard and Groveland School Road. Just six years later, enthusiasm for natural foods dictated another move across the street to the current site of the hardware store, simultaneously changing our name to “Lakewinds Natural Foods” in a successful attempt to invite everyone in the community to shop. In 1995, Lakewinds moved to the corner location on Highway 101 and Minnetonka Boulevard, allowing us to grow into one of the largest natural food cooperatives in the Midwest. In 1998, we added Lakewinds Natural Home, just a few doors down, to provide our customers with green home products and fair trade gifts. In January 2006, this store closed and its products were incorporated into the newly expanded Minnetonka and Chanhassen locations.
In the summer of 2003, Lakewinds merged with the Anoka Co-op Grocery and Café, a small neighborhood store in downtown Anoka. This store had been a part of its community for over 25 years, but was financially struggling. In May of 2009, after helping get the co-op back on its feet, the Board of Directors was approached by a local group seeking to return it to the community. In February 2010, Grass Roots Co-op purchased the Lakewinds’ Anoka store. We supported this initiative, and felt it was consistent with Lakewinds’ long-term goals.
Ever since the Minnetonka store became crowded with success, Lakewinds had been searching for another larger location to better serve the western suburbs. In the spring of 2005, construction started on a 13,000 square foot store in Chanhassen, which opened its doors on December 10, 2005. Just as construction started on the Chanhassen store, the long-desired Supervalu building west of the Minnetonka store became available. While two simultaneous store openings was a daunting task, the unique opportunity to ensure a comfortable shopping experience for our Minnetonka-area shoppers was too good to pass up. The new 14,000 square foot Minnetonka store opened January 12, 2006. Both new store locations were designed with a careful eye towards using environmentally responsible and sustainable products. The Chanhassen location uniquely features solar panels on the roof and an artisan bakery, while the Minnetonka location features a wood-burning pizza oven.
At Lakewinds, we take pride in being unlike other grocers. Each of our departments offer many exciting and unique items with an emphasis on organic, local and fair trade products. Sourcing trusted products and our commitment to outstanding service, enable us to serve the needs of our diverse and growing customer and member base.