The Wedge Community Co-op on Thursday unveiled new details about its planned expansion to Minneapolis’ Eat Street, where it will open a smaller location called the “Wedge Community Table.”
The Wedge, which operates the bustling natural and organic foods grocery store at 22nd Street and Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis, is planning a new 15,000-square-foot space at 2412 Nicollet Avenue. The space will feature groceries, a café, and a “neighborhood-friendly gathering place”—and the Wedge will relocate its baking and kitchen operations to the new facility. It will also feature a classroom for local chefs to conduct cooking demonstrations.
The location will be stocked with items similar to those found at the Lyndale location, but on a smaller scale. It will also offer seasonal deli options, baked goods, salads and sandwiches, hot soups, a burrito bar, a coffee and juice bar, and a seating area for dining. (See additional renderings of the space below this article.)
The Wedge Community Table is slated to open this fall, and it’s part of a multi-year expansion project. Once the new location is established, the Wedge is planning a “major remodel” for its Lyndale location, which it plans to finish in the summer of 2015. The co-op then plans to add a “second full-service grocery store at a yet-to-be-determined location.”
For the Wedge Community Table, the co-op is working with architecture firm the Cuningham Group and contractor Watson Forsberg to build the new space, which will occupy a renovated 1960s building. The remodeling has begun, and the Wedge said it hopes to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification.
“We focused on sustainable strategies and created a design that transforms a dilapidated building into inviting, high-performance community and work space,” Cuningham Group Principal Jeffrey Mandyck said in a statement. “Daylight and natural materials combined with exposed existing structure create warm, open spaces and the Nicollet Avenue storefront welcomes the community and features natural foods within.”
The Wedge Community Co-op has 15,700 member/owners and was founded in 1974. In addition to its grocery store, the Wedge also operates local foods distributor Co-op Partners Warehouse and a local farm called Gardens of Eagan.