Outpost General Manager Will Retire

It’s been more than 35 years since Pam Mehnert became general manager at Outpost Natural Foods. Under her direction, the organic grocery store has grown from a $2 million single location to a $50 million multi-store operation that includes four retail stores, production kitchen, central office, warehouse and multiple wholesale accounts among the Froedtert and Advocate Aurora hospital systems.

The company has also taken steps to become more sustainable and worked to make healthy foods more accessible to low-income residents of the Greater Milwaukee area.

Now, Mehnert is ready to step away from her position, passing the torch to a new leader. In a newsletter sent to co-op members on Monday, the general manager announced her plans to retire in June 2023.

“Working for Outpost has created a light within me that will never dim,” Mehnert said in a statement. “This has been an experience of a lifetime that continues to fill me with joy and purpose. I’ll be forever grateful to the people who believed in me along the way.”

Throughout the next six months, Mehnert said she will “continue to move the co-op forward in a positive and meaningful way.”

She will also have three weeks of crossover time with her successor to ensure a seamless transition. After a well-deserved break, Mehnert said she plans to channel her energy into her business, a managerial coaching and consulting company. She started the business two years ago, balancing her co-op duties and time with clients.

Then and Now

Mehnert joined Outpost as a customer service clerk in 1980, just 10 years after the budding co-op opened its first small store, called East Kane Street Food Co-op. The organization later moved to Clarke Street, where it first took on the Outpost name.

Mehnert held a number of positions for the following six years, including cashiering, stocking, ordering, shift management, merchandising, and marketing. Upon her promotion to general manager in 1986, she led the relocation of the co-op to Capitol Drive, where it remains today.

Throughout her career, Mehnert and her team implemented initiatives to bolster the co-op’s reputation as a leader in the organic and sustainability sector. Under her leadership, Outpost has been awarded EPA Top Retail partner (2013 to present), Great Place to Work Certification (2021 ), National Co-op Grocers Climate Collaborative Award (2020), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Top Workplace (2012) and Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy Efficiency, 2006 Focus on Energy (2006).

Mehnert herself has been the recipient of numerous awards, including Milwaukee Business Journal Woman of Influence (1998), Consumer Cooperative Management Association Cooperative Service Award (2001), Community Shares David Schwartz Business Humanitarian Award (2011), and Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council’s Sustainable Business Award for Sustainable Executive Leader (2019).

Mehnert has also served as board president for the National Cooperative Grocers and Local First Milwaukee.

“Pam’s passion and commitment to serving the Greater Milwaukee community through stewardship of Outpost is unparalleled,” said Ashley Fisher, Outpost board president in a statement. “Perhaps most striking is that she brings her career to a close after successfully guiding the co-op through three years of turmoil caused by the pandemic, supply chain issues, and a changing economy. We wish her the very best as she begins a new life chapter.”

Outpost has hired an executive recruiter to assist with the search for Mehnert’s successor. The search quietly began last summer, but will ramp up considerably following the public announcement.

Mehnert said she feels confident in the timing of her decision, as well as the future of the co-op under new leadership.

“I honestly believe there couldn’t be a better time to bring someone else into this position who is well-poised to lead the co-op forward,” she said. “Meeting many of you over the years has also been one of the many highlights. That all makes it a difficult decision to leave this work at any time, but I strongly believe the timing is right.”

She added, “I’m confident in both the board’s process during this transition and the continuity I believe we can keep in place working towards our common goals.”

In addition to the general manager position, Outpost is looking to fill nearly two dozen other positions across four of its locations. More information is available on the Outpost Natural Foods website.

Co-op members will have a chance to connect with Mehnert, as well as other leadership, at the co-op’s annual meeting, set for Sunday, March 5, at Hunger Taskforce in West Milwaukee.