*Pictured, left to right: Rita York Hennecke, Deon Whitten, Anthony Lang, Isaac Falcon-Campos, Mark Sprague, Melissa Williams, LeAnne Richardson, Sofía Galarza Liu and Seth Naumann*

From the Board of Directors

On behalf of the Board of Directors, it is my great pleasure to announce that Seth Naumann has been promoted to the position of General Manager, effective December 16, 2024.

Departing GM, Rita York Hennecke, submitted her resignation on October 9. The Board of Directors quickly formed an ad hoc committee to identify the new General Manager. We conducted a rigorous, two-month national search and interview process seeking the best-qualified candidate to lead our co-op.

Seth has been a valued member of The Merc Co+op management team over the last 5 years. His dedication, hard work, and leadership have been instrumental in our success. We are confident that he will continue to lead the co-op with passion, integrity, and vision.

Please join us in congratulating Seth on this well-deserved promotion. We look forward to working together under his leadership. And thank you to Rita for more than 19 years of serving our co-op. We wish you the very best as you move to the next phase of your career.

Melissa A. Hayes-Williams

Board President, on behalf of the Board of Directors

Meet Seth

With a career spanning over 17 years in the grocery and cooperative sectors, Seth brings a wealth of experience as well as a deep commitment to community.

Seth’s career began with Kroger, where he spent 12 years honing his skills in various roles including as district coordinator overseeing grocery, produce, front end and general merchandise departments across several locations. He transitioned to The Merc Co+op five years ago and has served as the Director of Operations for the past four years. Seth has successfully overseen the operations of our two stores, driving sales growth and fostering a culture of excellence.

Seth is passionate about leadership, staff and customer engagement and achieving results. He believes that the success of any organization is rooted in the strength and dedication of its team, and he attributes much of his success to the incredible people he works with. A strong advocate for community, Seth is dedicated to ensuring everyone has access to healthy, affordable food.

I'm incredibly proud of Seth. When I hired him in 2019, he brought us a great deal of knowledge, skills and experience. During his time with us, he has flourished and gained a thorough understanding of the co-op model and the needs of our co-op community. I have complete faith in his leadership and can't wait to witness our co-op's ongoing growth. — Rita York Hennecke

Board Meetings

All co-op owners are invited to attend monthly board meetings. Early in the agenda, the board reserves ten minutes of space to hear from owners who wish to address the board.