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MoneyFriday, September 5, 2008 10:02 AM CDT
All-natural grocery store opens in Normal as organic industry booms
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NORMAL -- Tim Ifft meticulously stacked cartons filled with a dozen eggs on the new grocery store’s shelves. The Piper City man raises all-natural, pasture-raised poultry at his farm and brings his chickens’ eggs to Bloomington’s farmers market.

But his year-round operation experiences a lapse during the market’s off-season, and he also finds himself making special deliveries when people call for eggs during the winter.

To have an outlet for his inventory — and meet demand — Ifft has wanted the opportunity to sell at a Twin City store.

That chance arrived last week when Naturally Yours Grocery opened in a portion of the former Jewel-Osco building in east Normal.

“Now they can come here and get it,” said Ifft, who also will supply the store with chicken and turkey.

Naturally Yours is an organic and all-natural grocery and vitamin store that the late Dr. Stephen Elsasser founded in Peoria. As the organic industry becomes more popular, Naturally Yours was attracted to open a second shop in the Twin Cities because of the growing population, which includes the university community and aging baby boomers, who are known for buying into the health food trend, said General Manager Roger Hutchinson.

“We are on a very large incline. … The industry is exponentially growing,” Hutchinson said. “We felt there was a need to meet that growing demand.”

All of the meat for sale comes from local sources, and 10 to 30 percent of the produce selection will be from area farmers, depending on the season, Hutchinson said. Local goods include Ropp Jersey Cheese of Normal, Amber Bee honey from Bloomington, tilapia from Flanagan and other meat and produce from towns like Gridley and Atlanta.

The store also offers buffalo from Buda, north of Peoria.

Local farm products generally are really high-quality products, Hutchinson said. A store that supports the local farmers also means good news for the economy, he said.

The 14,000-square-foot store also carries bulk food items, spices and herbs and will have organic beer and wine. Two of the vitamin and supplement lines are otherwise only found in doctors’ offices — the Naturally Yours store brand and Douglas Laboratories, Hutchinson said. The store even has organic pet food and cleaning supplies.

Naturally Yours also boasts a deli, a coffee bar with fair-trade drinks, a soup bar, a juice bar and smoothies.

Regardless of a food’s origin, the company is very particular about the products it carries, Hutchinson said. None of the items have been treated with any chemicals, and all producers have to either be certified organic or meet similar standards, he said.

“We feel there are a lot of things out there now that are detrimental to our health. We’ve done a really good job of poisoning ourselves,” Hutchinson said. “You can make your body better naturally by consuming good things.”

The store, which has 30 employees, will offer free seminars and classes about once a month to teach the community about health, Hutchinson said.

Hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

Take a look
Cashier Ana Dobbins, of Normal is being trained by deli manaher Donna Dirks of Bloomington, at the new Naturally Yours Grocery, 1503 East College, Normal. The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY
Tim Ifft works on stocking the shelves art Naturally Yours Grocery, with the seventy dozen eggs he brought from his business, TJ's Free Range Poultry, Piper City. The business will open in the former Jewell grocery store building at 1503 East College, Normal. The Pantagraph/STEVE SMEDLEY
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Reader comments on this story - 14 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

bambi wrote on Sep 6, 2008 7:06 PM:

" Well Obviously Employee didn't like there job...Maybe employee wasn't doing there job very well..and I am sure employee no longer works there anymore....I think for some ppl who are on here dont need to be on like employee..Obviously they didn't like there job or they couldn't handle being told what to do so now they want ppl to stop shopping at this store well just because of one unhappy employee isn't going to matter...In all honestly it's a nice place to be..The prices maybe high but for a health food store who is willing to match prices pretty good if you ask me...There are what over 100,000 ppl in bloomington-normal and because of one grumpy person that probably didn;t like being told what to do or doesn't do good with suggestions then maybe they shouldn't be on here..Maybe the Pantagraph needs to pull this period off here, because ppl are just going to get ugly on here..It's not worth it!!! "

employee2 wrote on Sep 5, 2008 7:51 PM:

" I don't know who employee worked for but I have worked at Naturally Yours for several years and it is one of the best places to work I have ever experienced. They care for you as a person and as an employee. I t sounds to me as if employee has an axe to grind. I know that getting the new Normal store ready was difficult but the ownership and manager are first class people. It is really a treat to go to work at a place that cares about you, your family and your health.

Knowing the manager very well I asked Him about this and his comment was the only people that helped set up the store that are not still working quit without notice and just failed to show up for work. Very poor work ethic and certainly not a valid commentator on the store or its management.

I love to shop and work for a first class store. Thanks for being who you are and what you do for our communities. We are a better place because of you. "

Santo Fan wrote on Sep 5, 2008 5:42 PM:

" Hey Butz: I just moved here from Chicago and used to shop at Whole Foods. Anything else you want to know? Look, if price is your top consideration when shopping for food, then good for you. For me, it is not the top consideration....I am willing to pay more for better/safer foods. "

healthnut wrote on Sep 5, 2008 5:04 PM:

" I prefer to buy organic and have had a hard time finding all the products I want at the local grocery stores. I am so thankful that Naturally Yours is here. If you shop a lot like I do you will realize that on Organic products their prices are very good. If you compare it to a regular product in a regular grocery store it will be more expensive, but my experience is you get what you pay for. I would rather pay a little more for quality and be assured I am getting organic versus some non organic junk.

I am also celiac and they have the largest wheat free gluten area I have ever seen.

Store employees seem very happy and helpful. Very pleasant shopping experiece. I will be back. Glad you are here! "

lovemyjob wrote on Sep 5, 2008 3:57 PM:

" I work there and totally disagree with "employee"!! They are so nice and family friendly, My schedule is at my need as a single mother(which shows alot of respect!) And the prices are kinda high but its all natural so it costs the store more to buy so they need to price higher to make some money. But they will match prices of the competition. Give us time and we will have the kinks worked out. "

employee wrote on Sep 5, 2008 2:54 PM:

" Naturally Yours treats their employees with a lot of disrespect. They are very unkind to their employees regardless of how many hours you work. They were making their elderly employees work long hours and do a lot of physical labor so that they could meet their store opening deadline. There wasn't even a bathroom for employees to use when they were working. I worked there full-time and helped set up their store. Working for this company was the worst working experience I have ever had.

If you are concerned at all about supporting a natural health and foods store that doesn't care about their customers or their employees, I would suggest you take your business to Common Ground instead. The management at Naturally Yours is only concerned with making a lot of money. Employees and buyers beware. "

bambi wrote on Sep 5, 2008 7:41 AM:

" I am so glad that Naturally Yours is in town, I have been shopping at the Peoria store for years. There prices may be high but you have to understand that this is a specialty store which some ppl do not recgonize..I have been at this location several times and bought tons of stuff, the staff is very nice..Ppl need to understand with this being a new store they are still working out the kinks which is very understandable..But what some of you do not realize I had mentioned that one of the items that I was buying was cheaper at another store and they matched the price, so if you have proof of cheaper priceing they will match..So I dont think that is bad... "

Seymour Butz wrote on Sep 5, 2008 6:38 AM:

" I was looking forward to the store opening for a while. I assumed the prices would be high. I was wrong. the prices are VERY high!!! To Santo Fan, where are shopping at now? They wanted $4.50 for a box of cerial and that was the sale price. the normal price was nearly $6. On my budget that is high. "

OGS wrote on Sep 4, 2008 11:12 PM:

" Some prices are average for what they have and some prices are high. Great selection of items, especially vitamins and herbal supplements. Don't forget to shop at Common Ground downtown Bloomington whose prices aren't so high. "

pinko commie wrote on Sep 4, 2008 11:03 PM:

" We get these fake chicken strips at Meijer for $3.99 (which I think is expensive) and my wife said they were like $6.59 at Naturally Yours. No thanks. I'll stick to the grocery store or Common Ground. "

Santo Fan wrote on Sep 4, 2008 8:49 PM:

" I went in and did not think the prices were too bad at all. "

chitowngirl wrote on Sep 4, 2008 8:20 PM:

" Those of us who wish there was a Whole Foods or Trader Joes, will gladly pay the higher prices for good quality. Hopefully they will have some ready-made healthy meals available for purchase. That's what this town is missing! "

dwarf wrote on Sep 4, 2008 7:40 PM:

" It's a natural foods store. They will always have more expensive prices.

For some folks, it's worth it. I know it's worth it to my wife. "

The Voice wrote on Sep 4, 2008 7:06 PM:

" If they do not lower their prices, they will NEVER make it. Went in there to browse the other and if you think Schnucks is bad, you havent seen anything yet. "

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