Celebrating the History of 3440 Bloomington Ave S

In 2025 the Mayday Cafe became a worker owned business. This latest transition at Mayday Café prompted me to research the history of the building at 3440 Bloomington Ave. I have a connection to that building that extends beyond the 20 plus years of the café’s existence. I was one of the last board members around from the final days of the Powderhorn Food Coop.  I signed off on the paperwork that allowed Mala Vujnovich to purchase the building after the coop closed, so she could open Mayday Cafe. Sadly, after signing those sale documents I was sued by the State of Minnesota for Powderhorn Coop’s unpaid back taxes. Thankfully I had free legal representation from the North Country Development Fund, and the lawsuit was eventually dismissed. 

The building at 3440 Bloomington Avenue was built in 1909. It has been home to an eclectic assortment of businesses over its 116 year history. It originally housed a meat market and bakery. Between 1915 and 1918 it was home to Larsen Plumbing and Heating . In 1919 there was a tailor shop. In 1920-1921 it housed a bicycle repair shop, followed by Johnson’s ice cream and soda fountain in 1924-1927. After 1927, 3440 Bloomington was home to Jaeger Hardware (until 1955) followed by Powderhorn Hardware Store (1956-1970ish). The hardware stores were both known for their ice skate exchanges and skate sharpening services, fitting in nicely with Powderhorn Park’s speed skating legacy. Powderhorn Food Coop moved into the old hardware store space in 1972. 

The history of Powderhorn Food Coop deserves its own longer story, one that I am still researching and will one day write about. The coop was founded in 1972. It was all volunteer run and had no paid staff until 1975. The coop was loosely aligned with the Coop Organization (CO) side of the coop wars, and that was partly due to its identity as a local grocery dedicated to serving the needs of the neighborhood as opposed to an identity as a natural foods grocery. In 1976 non-CO coop members broke into the store, changed the locks, installed a new cash register and effectively booted the CO worker collective from the store. 

In 1986 the coop expanded the store and built on top of the rear, lower basement extension that had been added to the building back in 1937. After the general manager left in 1991, the coop transitioned to a worker collective model. The worker collective inherited a financial mess, and that coupled with their inexperience and the complete shut down of Bloomington Avenue for road reconstruction in 1992-1993 doomed the coop. My personal history at Powderhorn Coop started as a working member in the early 1990s. My partner and I did personal food shopping and delivery for Powderhorn neighborhood elders who could not navigate the construction on Bloomington Ave. After the worker collective dissolved in 1993, I volunteered my time in the store running the produce department and I joined the coop’s board of directors. By that point, the store was plagued by credit and money problems that made it difficult to purchase goods for the store (vendors accepted cash on delivery only), there were frequent break-ins, and a dwindling staff. The coop closed its doors for good in December of 1994. 

In 1995 Mala Vujnovich opened the community institution Mayday Café. Café employee Andy Lunning purchased the business in 2003 and Mayday transitioned into the current worker cooperative in 2025.  

I always find it interesting that buildings and places in a neighborhood can tell us so much about the history and times of the people who lived in the neighborhood. If you are wondering about the story behind any building in the neighborhood, leave me a comment.