The couple who started the co-op in 1971 ran it out of their home, taking people’s orders and driving once a week to pick them up from another co-op in Kalamazoo, Joan Krauss, one of the managers, said.
The store is still a member-owned co-op, run by a board of directors. Membership costs $12 a year and includes various benefits, but everyone is welcome to shop at the store whether they are members or not. Krauss said it is an investment in the community.
“We try to keep all of our prices lower than suggested retail,” Krauss said, explaining that while “it doesn’t make a lot of money for the store,” it keeps them “going well” and keeps prices more affordable for the community.
A major source of business is the store’s bulk area.
“We have a bulk room—bulk herbs and spices, flours and grains and nuts,” said Patty Pogue, another manager. “You can buy any quantity you want.”
Besides three part-time managers—Krauss, Pogue, and Michelle Nauta—the store has eight other staff members, including Krauss’s daughter Angie Lane, who recently joined her mom working at the store.
Krauss said her job is about the people she works with and the customers she serves.
“I love working with the public, and I love working with our staff,” she said.
Lane echoed Krauss’ sentiments.
“My favorite thing is probably helping people,” she said. “We have a lot of people come in that maybe are suffering from illnesses, or they just want to take better care of themselves, and so sometimes they’re a little overwhelmed by where to start.”
Besides a variety of natural foods, the store sells supplements and vitamins. Customers often come in knowing exactly what they want, but other times they come in with questions.
“We can’t specifically say what you should take, because that’s not our line of business. We just have products for you to choose from,” Krauss said.
Instead, staff members help customers in other ways, and customers also help one another.
“We can get out our books and teach as we go along,” Krauss said. “We give them our knowledge and what we know from other customers who come in, and our customers help each other out a lot in the store. Somebody’s got a question, and somebody else hears the conversation, they’ll jump in and add to it and give us information all the time.”
The store also offers business cards from people in the community, like naturopaths and massage therapists, who might be helpful resources for their customers.
“For a lot of people this is a jumping-off point to addressing all of their body, not just what they eat or the supplements they take, but addressing their inner wellness, their outer wellness” Lane said, “and so it’s just a good resource to have.”
Over time, they have gotten to know many of their customers.
“We know them by name, and they know us by name,” Krauss said, “and we have a nice conversation that way, get to know each other, and see them out on the street, not only in the store, but you have a conversation with them even out of here, which is nice.”
The store announced the celebration of its 50 years in business during the “Summer in the City” festival the first week of August.
The festival helped spread the word and bring in new business.
“Whenever we get new people in here,” Pogue said, “just about everyone says, ‘I love this store; I’m coming back.’”
