Randy Lee spent nearly 50 years transforming natural food and co-op groceries in America starting with the Puget Consumer Cooperative (PCC) in 1970 in Seattle, WA. Within a year, he became store manager and began to transform the store into one that prioritizes the healthfulness and nutrition of its products. Buoyed by his leadership, PCC has grown into the nation’s largest consumer-owned grocer with 16 stores, more than 100,000 members, a staff of 2,000, and $450 million in annual revenue. It has provided 1.5 million meals to communities in need and served more than 7,000 students through its Cooking Class program — both initiatives spearheaded under Lee’s leadership.
Lee extended his support of healthy and natural foods through the co-op grocery model to help preserve land – in particular farmland – in Washington state. He helped create 250 gardening plots across Seattle – the first he helped found, Picardo Farms, now yields some of the city’s best soil. He was instrumental in founding the PCC Farmland Trust (now Washington Farmland Trust) – and served as a Board Director for 19 years. The Trust has conserved 29 farms in Washington state, totaling 3,063 acres.
In the late 1990’s along with five other leaders, Lee helped establish what is now National Co+op Grocers (NCG). He served on its board for nearly two decades and led a considerable reorganization in 2004. He established its National Purchasing Program, which in turn played a significant role in allowing NCG to secure its first purchasing contract with United Natural Foods.
In 2017, Consumer Cooperative Management Association recognized Lee with the Cooperative Service Award in recognition of dedicated leadership and exemplary service. He was celebrated “for his personification of cooperation and teaching it through his work.”
In 2018, Lee was celebrated by Seattle Business Magazine with its Executive Excellence Award. The award “celebrated leaders for exemplary performance in the day-to-day operation of complex corporate ecosystems as well as in the larger context of providing a moral compass to the people whose lives they influence directly and indirectly.”
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