by Anja Wuolu
After nearly seven years of zealously managing the Minnesota Street Market, Pia Lopez retired on Oct. 23. Dozens of board members, friends, volunteers and co-op employees gathered for her retirement party.
“If it weren’t for Pia, I don’t think the co-op would be around today,” said Jim Degiovanni, co-op board member and volunteer. The crowd applauded in agreement.
In 2015, Lopez was scouting St. Joseph for a project. She’s held many titles in her life, including Peace Corps volunteer, college professor and journalist. When Lopez walked onto the slanting hardwood floors of the 1899 Loso’s grocery store-turned co-op, she fell in love.
While many people involved in the co-op enjoyed the quality food and art, Lopez immediately recognized the great need for stability. In 2015, she knew very little about co-ops, but threw herself into the Minnesota Street Market with a tremendous amount of passionate determination. She set out to improve and preserve the historic building as well as secure financial stability for the co-op. Lopez quickly became the president of the Minnesota Street Market Board of Directors.
She said there is a huge difference between a regular grocery store and a co-op.
“People shopping (at the co-op)have an ownership stake in it,” she said. “People volunteer, [the member-owners] are not just shoppers.”
In December of 2016, the previous general manager left. Lopez stepped in as a temporary general manager. While maintaining her position on the board, Lopez got to work. There were many improvements throughout the years, but one major event stands out to her. In 2017, the store closed for two days so Lopez and a small army of volunteers could steam wallpaper off, remove paneling, repaint and revamp the store.
“I was doing 17-hour days,” she said, “but we couldn’t [afford to] close the store for more than two days.”
There were many other smaller improvements throughout the years, including fridge and freezer replacements as well as new signage. In the fall of 2019, Lopez stepped away from the co-op to direct the Austrian study abroad program with her spouse, Jim Read, through the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University.
When she returned in January of 2020, it became clear Lopez’s involvement with the co-op was not over. The co-op was still struggling to find a permanent manager, and the financial situation was tenuous. Lopez quit her position on the co-op’s board in order to manage the co-op, bring in more people and focus on getting the co-op ready for a permanent manager.
When the Coronavirus pandemic hit, new challenges presented themselves. The co-op had to stay up to date on new safety guidelines, including masking and extra cleaning. Staff members missed work due to COVID-19 or suspected COVID-19. Student workers went home in the middle of the semester. Whenever there was a shortage of staff, Lopez picked up extra hours. Despite the extra workload, Lopez recalls being grateful she could stay working alongside human beings the entire time. Many people in other professions moved to remote-only work, which Lopez said she thought would have been difficult for her.
Despite the challenges, Lopez made the co-op thrive during the pandemic. Membership increased, and the co-op became a lifeline for many. For several member-owners, the small store was the only place they felt safe. There was a huge influx of people buying flour to make bread, more people switched to organic foods and more people were cooking. Bigger grocery stores struggled to keep up with demands for flour, eggs and yeast, however the co-op never ran out. Lopez also protected vulnerable, at-risk member-owners by personally delivering food to their doorsteps, mitigating their exposure to the virus.
Now that the co-op is more financially stable, has had a serious facelift and boasts more than 1,000 member-owners, Lopez is ready to step aside from her position. She plans to stay involved in marketing for the co-op on a volunteer basis, but will no longer have the seven-day-a-week responsibility of taking care of the co-op. Amie Stockholm was hired as the new general manager in August of 2022. Stockholm was pleased Lopez left everything very organized, which has made the transition go smoothly.
Lopez enjoys having her weekends back, and has more time to do other things. She is involved in many other local organizations including the League of Women Voters, her neighborhood homeowners’ association and the farmers’ market. However, Lopez insists she will take a six-month break before she decides what her next big project will be. In the meantime, she wants to focus on spending more time with her 95-year-old father, who lives in New Mexico.
Lopez said the thing she will miss most about the co-op is the people she’s gotten to know during the past several years.
“[Working in a co-op] is not about the cash register and stocking shelves,” she said, “but (about) being a part of [the members’] lives.”
Lopez said she treasures her memories of managing the co-op, and the co-op treasures her.
