In 2024, Ames’ Wheatsfield Co-op celebrated its 50th anniversary of working in cooperation with local businesses to provide fresh, local and organic produce to the community of Ames. With this big anniversary, Wheatsfield Co-op is bringing in lots of exciting changes to the business in 2025 with the goal of improving the store for all in the years to come. 

Back in January 2024, Wheatsfield held the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Fair to kick off the year’s anniversary celebrations. This fair presented many local vendors with the opportunity to meet and share their products with the customers of Wheatsfield Co-op and the community of Ames, as well as provided giveaways and scavenger hunts for visitors. The Co-op also celebrated by asking the community to collect and share any memories or mementos they had relating to the Co-op over the past 50 years.

Wheatsfield Co-op also hosted the Groovy Golden Jubilee back in September, which showcased a large variety of vendors, food trucks, breweries and featured community groups, musicians and other entertainment groups local to the greater Ames area. 

Just recently, Linda Johnson, the general manager of Wheatsfield Co-op, shared a blog on the store’s website that detailed the changes and plans being made for the business in 2025.

Johnson begins with a collection of memories she had from the past year, including the Groovy Golden Jubilee, the 50th anniversary quilt created by Wheatsfield employees Brenda Backman and Shelley Jaspering and the drawings of the Douglas Avenue and Northwestern Avenue locations made by Lonna Nachtigal.

Johnson also announced that she would be retiring from her position as general manager by the end of June this year, marking the end of a leadership role that she carried for the last 25 years at the Co-op. As she retires, Stacey Brown, a 23-year veteran of the business with lots of experience in the management and operation of the co-op, will be filling the position and working with Johnson to transition the store into new leadership. 

Lastly, Johnson explained that there will be big changes in the way the co-op operates financially in order to align better with the projected growth of the Co-op in the coming years, including an improvement in the way Wheatsfield will share information with the other 165 co-ops in the National Co-op Grocers (NCG), and a transition into a different online accounting system that the business uses. 

To stay updated on these changes, which are expected to be completed by the end of March, please visit Wheatsfield Co-op’s website here.