Pam Mehnert will close the books on a 42-year career with Milwaukee-based
Outpost Natural Foods when she retires from her longtime role as general manager in June 2023.
Mehnert has served as GM of Outpost since 1987, having first joined the local food cooperative in 1980. During her tenure,
Mehnert led the co-op's expansion from a $2 million business with a single location to a $50 million, multi-store operation, which now includes four retail stores (two in Milwaukee and others in Mequon and Wauwatosa), a central production kitchen, central office and warehouse, and multiple wholesale accounts within the Froedtert Health and Advocate Aurora Health hospital systems.
"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."
Outpost has retained an executive recruiter to assist with the search for Mehnert’s successor.
Outpost was founded in 1970; today, it's one of the larger multi-store retail food cooperatives in the U.S., co-owned by more than 22,200 customers across southeastern Wisconsin and employing nearly 360 people represented by
UFCW Local 1473.
The grocery chain is known for its selection of natural, organic and locally grown and sourced foods and has built a reputation as a leader in the sustainability space. Outpost’s Wauwatosa location was built in 1998 as the first green-built grocery store in Wisconsin, followed by USGBC LEED Silver Certification of its Mequon location in 2014. The co-op also publishes an award-winning food and dining magazine, "GRAZE."
Since Mehnert's first role as a customer service clerk at the co-op’s former Holton Street store, she has served in various capacities across the entire operation, including cashiering, stocking, ordering, shift management, merchandising and marketing. Following her promotion to GM, she led the relocation of the co-op’s Holton Street store to its current location on Capitol Drive.
In addition to leading Outpost, Mehnert has 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. "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."
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