Seward Community Co-op

Can be hit or miss. I’m all about fresh prepped food as I’m single, lazy, and I don’t run well on carbs and sugar. I wish there were more options like fresh prepped single serving salads and more soups instead of three soup options and six white bread sandwich options. I love that they hired from the community and I’ve seen some great enthusiasm from employees new to this world but just today a cashier rang up my very expensive but very small purchase and just stood there with down time then watched while I scrambled to bag it after the fact. That’s my biggest pet peeve when I’m higher end grocery shopping and spending so much on quality food… Could you at least bag it for me while I pay? My barista had no sense of urgency and stood talking to a former employee, completely pausing the process for a few beats while they chatted. There’s a bit of a theme of apathy amongst the staff, it’s definitely unlike any other local co op. But I love that they’re doing it because they did the right thing and hopefully customer service continues to grow.

Great place to stop for lunch or coffee — I do so on a regular basis as one of my work locations is across the street. Excellent salad and hot food bar with a wide range of healthy choices. At its core this is an outstanding grocery store with the best of produce and very good choices throughout the store. I also like the selection of personal care products, such as Tom’s of Maine toothpaste. Extremely friendly and helpful staff. Very nice area to sit with your meal or coffee. While I don’t need to park my car, I am pleased to see that there is a reasonably large parking lot, which keeps customers from needing to park on side streets.

This is my co-​op now. I love how close it is and the space is very reminiscent of the founding store, Seward co-​op: same happy green color. The prices are about the same too. Many items, especially bulk, are affordable but of course they have lots of expensive fun stuff to save your pennies for. The hot bar is, like Seward, a little spendy. I would recommend getting the rotisserie chicken instead, and save the bones for broth!

This is an inspiring location and ranks up there now as one of my favorite co-​ops (you’ll probably catch that on a number of my co-​op reviews… I LOVE THEM)!
I’ve been to this one twice and absolutely adored the vibe, the presence, and the happy/​helpful/​energetic employees that work there! This is an incredibly diverse and inviting location that just makes you want to come back over and over again to support and watch it succeed!
The selection is great, the people are great, and the prices (or at least in the produce) seem to be a bit more affordable than some of the other co-​ops (the packaged-​processed goods are about the same as other locations).
The meat & seafood department may just be the happiest meat & seafood department I’ve ever encountered. Kind, informative, and generous.
While it MAY have something to do with being so new, so many of the employees really go out of their way to be helpful and nice. But I had also been to the Lakewinds-​Richfield opening season multiple times and, while great, the Seward Friendship store seems to be living out their name and investing in great friendships.
I had talked to a man at the customer service desk when they were 1 ½ weeks into their opening and he said that they had a goal of selling approximately 90 memberships in their first month… BUT…they had already sold OVER 500 in their first 1 ½ weeks! The support for co-​ops is inspiring and such a huge testament to the fact that we are STARVING for nutrient-​dense REAL foods!
Just go to walk around and experience the cheeriness (& buy something that you’ve never tried before… they’ve got a fantastic variety and supply of the goods)! They’re worth it and I’ll be back again… and again… and again.