Interview with Heidi and Bill Schwabacher

—by Rachel Fang

I spoke with longtime Hampden Park Co-op members Heidi and Bill Schwabacher on a sunny, cold day in January. We sat at a table in their dining room, decorated with an eclectic collection of paintings—some by Heidi, some by friends or family members— and had tea, served in a wonderful teapot—also Heidi’s work. They told me about their experiences with co-ops and how they came to Minnesota.

Originally from Berkeley, California, Heidi and Bill came to Minnesota in 1947, already veterans of housing cooperatives while students at the University of California, Berkeley. Once in Minnesota, they moved into married student housing at the University of Minnesota, also a housing co-op, and joined Group Health, a medical co-op and the precursor to Health Partners. They bought their house in Prospect Park in 1961 and have lived there ever since.

Heidi and Bill have been married for 60 years and have been members of food cooperatives for about that long. The first food co-op they joined was run out of a garage in Prospect Park. Later they joined the Green Grass Grocery, though they also shopped at North Country Co-op, Heidi admitted. “North Country was closer to us,” she said, “and easier to walk to with our young children.” But when they got a car, parking was a problem, Bill remembered. “Also,” Heidi said, “Green Grass Grocery had cleaner peanut butter tubs. So we joined Green Grass,” which later became Hampden Park Co-op.

Though they were aware of the friction among some of the early food co-ops in the Twin Cities, Heidi and Bill never got involved in co-op politics, though Bill claimed that the “more left” co-ops were often cleaner than their more conservative counterparts. Over the years, they have seen the expansion of a number of food co-ops in Berkeley, some of which got so big that they eventually failed.

Co-ops in the Twin Cities have also expanded, Bill noted. “We were surprised when the Seward Co-op expanded yet again” (into the old Riverside Market space). “We like the size of Hampden Park.” Heidi said, “and shopping at the co-op is very much a social experience.” Being a member of Hampden Park Co-op is like being part of an extended family, and shopping there is never an anonymous experience like it can be at bigger chain stores, they both agreed.

The Schwabachers have been impressed with the competence of the leadership of HPC over the years, and especially Matt’s expertise with produce. Heidi and Bill admit to occasionally shopping elsewhere for specialty items but “we buy everything we can at the co-op. If the co-op doesn’t have it then we probably don’t need it,” Bill said.

[Rachel Fang is a long-time co-op member, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, and enjoys interviewing almost anybody about their lives and experiences.]