From Whittier Backyard to Wedge Landmark: The Co-op's Origin

The co-op traces its start to a summer 1974 meeting of neighbors near Franklin Avenue in Whittier who wanted access to affordable, organic, whole foods — often in bulk to save money — without driving or busing miles, according to the co-op's own history. It opened in a small garden-apartment space at 715 Franklin Ave. and moved to Lyndale Avenue in 1979, eventually settling at 2105 Lyndale Ave. S.

The store took the Wedge nickname of the Lowry Hill East neighborhood. It grew into a full natural-foods grocery and was part of a wave of more than 30 Twin Cities food co-ops that formed during the 1970s, according to its Wikipedia entry.

The Wedge no longer operates on its own. In 2016 its members voted to consolidate with the Linden Hills Co-op, and the merger into Twin Cities Co-op Partners was completed July 1, 2018, joining the two stores under one organization, the Star Tribune reported. At the time of the merger the Wedge had about 16,500 members and Linden Hills about 9,200, roughly 25,700 combined. Both stores are now branded Wedge Community Co-ops, as Wedge Lyndale and Wedge Linden Hills.

More than 50 years on, the Lyndale store still answers to its member-owners — the arrangement those Whittier neighbors set up in 1974.