About MEDIA
A BRIEF HISTORY OF May Day Cafe
May Day Cafe has continued a legacy of community and food in the Powderhorn neighborhood in South Minneapolis. Before May Day, the building housed a multi-decade community hub and cooperative. In the 1970s, a group of students based out of Walker Church (now New City Center) in Powderhorn started a project to provide accessible food in the neighborhood. That project gave birth to the Powderhorn Co-op, a cooperative grocery store. In the mid-1990s, the building was purchased and turned into May Day Cafe by its first owner, Mala Vujnovich. When Mala decided she was ready to sell, Andy Lunning - a then-employee - purchased the Cafe in 2003.
As a Powderhorn institution, May Day has been home to a lot over its lifetime: children who grew up buying M&M cookies now order coffee as adults (or still purchase our M&M cookies!), neighbors who volunteered at the Powderhorn Co-op now come into the cafe as patrons, and longtime friendships have been established while waiting in line to buy croissants. The May Day community is steeped in its walls. We can’t imagine Powderhorn without the Cafe and we plan to keep it that way.
OUR Cooperative Future!
Since the fall, we’ve dove deep into educating ourselves on worker cooperatives,
In addition to grants and loans, our goal is to raise $250,000. This will allow us to close on the purchase, start paying down the mortgage, and, most importantly, keep prices low for you and compensation livable for us. We’ve already got so much in place to make this vision a reality. Now we need your help to fund the purchase of the Cafe!
May Day is where Powderhorn gathers. You have been supporting the Cafe for decades. You make this space come alive with conversation and keep the line oh-so long. Now, we are committed to maintaining the legacy of May Day by sustaining us as worker-owners and continuing to serve you, our community.
Imogen
Neighbor, regular, fan“May Day is an essential meeting place in the community, and I can always rely on seeing a familiar face when I stop in. May Day is where I run into old friends I haven't seen in years, get snacks for neighbors when they're sick, meet up to co-work, and catch up on local gossip.
I know my delicious almond croissant and americano will taste even better when May Day becomes our neighborhood worker-owned coop.”
Jessica R.
customer, neighbor“I am so grateful for all the intention and care that the workers of May Day are putting into creating this coop, and am so excited to support our neighborhood coffee shop becoming a worker owned business! I'm so excited to go for even more muffins and egg sandwiches then ever before.”
Nadia H.O.
A regular, a fan, travels across 35W to reach May Day!“May Day is a community center. I can't count the number of organizing meetings, first dates, school papers, and hours-long conversations I've had at May Day. I love the diversity of patrons, the commitment to good quality, affordable treats and meals, and the warm run-ins with South Minneapolis community members. Our community has gone through a lot over the past several years and change will continue to come - we need to know this gathering space is sustainable for workers and patrons alike and I can think of no better way than as a cooperative!”