MAY DAY CAFE Press Release Adapted
The May Day Cafe Workers Cooperative is Minneapolis’s newest Worker Co-op. The Cafe reopened to the public on Friday, February 7th 2025.
Familiarity
The new owners are excited to welcome you back into this beloved and longstanding neighborhood establishment with a new vision of intentionally deepening the space as a community resource.
You will see lots of familiar faces as most of the employees have stayed on and are on their way to becoming worker-owners. While sustaining a commitment to affordability and the bakery staples that regulars have come to know and love, over time you will also see some new menu items and fresh ideas.
How It Happened
“The last 12 months of work to make this cooperative transition has been exhausting, but an experience that I feel profoundly grateful for and changed by,” said Mira Klein, a worker-owner and barista entering her third year at the Cafe. “I have so much appreciation for being part of creating something that felt like a real community effort. There has been so much in this process that was totally new to me, and having the support of Nexus Community Partners and Platform at our backs was essential to seeing this dream come to life.”
The deal was made possible by a set of public programs aimed at helping small businesses buy their real estate and become employee-owned. The Cooperative was also supported by over $100,000 in donations from more than 800 community members. The loan was funded by our partners at the Metropolitan Consortium of Community Developers (MCCD), Shared Capital, and the City of Minneapolis. In addition to Nexus Community Partners, the Cafe also received technical assistance from Platform CRE and Next Stage.
Erin Heelan, Co-founder of Platform CRE said, “selling your business or real estate to your workers or tenants is an excellent way to get a fair price for what you have built AND to ensure it continues to be an asset for the community. Small businesses like May Day are crucial to the local economy and the well-being of our communities. There has been an overwhelming amount of community support for the workers to buy the business and keep May Day Cafe open. Platform represented the workers to purchase the real estate. Nexus was instrumental in ensuring the workers were prepared for the acquisition by providing cooperative governance and small business Technical Assistance.”
Significance to Community and Economy
Employee-owned businesses, such as co-ops, have been shown to create a 92% increase in household net worth, a 33% higher hourly wage, and 53% longer job tenure (NCEO 2018). Real estate co-ops have been shown to revitalize commercial corridors by offering stable and affordable properties to businesses while giving community members a voice in development decisions and a share of the profits.
Patty Viafara, Director of the Worker Ownership Initiative at Nexus said, “we are so excited for the new owners as they take ownership of their labor. This deal is a great example of what can be achieved when we work together for the benefit of our community.
See “Full Circle for May Day Cafe,” by Mary Ellen Kaluza, the alley October 2024 and at
https://www.alleynews.org/archive/October 2024.
May Day Cafe is at 3440 Bloomington Ave. Mpls.
