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Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
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| MoneyFriday, September 5, 2008 10:02 AM CDT |
All-natural grocery store opens in Normal as organic industry booms
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. |
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