Member Interview: The Good Food Store
Membership Coordinator
The good food store was established in missoula, montana nearly 40 years ago.
This non-profit corporation has undergone a number of changes since it began. However, their mission to support a healthy community has remained at the forefront. Cheryl Loberg, has been managing the Good Food Store since 1988. Beginning in 2002, Cheryl spearheaded an expansion that took it from a small community market of 7300 square feet to a 28,000 square foot premier natural products store.
CC: What was your motivation for such an aggressive expansion? CL: Actually, we were advised by many people not to undergo an expansion of this size. But my concern was that without an aggressive expansion we would not be able to increase the size of departments that needed to grow in order to allow us to compete with a large chain store should one move in. I had a real vision for what I wanted to do with the store, and it worked.
What do you see as the Good Food Store’s greatest strength? Our customers. We are a community hub. We are a place that people like to come and hang out, they like the ambience that we have created. Because we strive everyday to uphold the standards that have always been important to us, we have gained the loyalty and respect of our customers.
What do you see as the biggest challenge for the natural products industry? Maintaining the integrity of our products. This is becoming more and more difficult with the continued challenges to organic standards as well as the influx of genetically modified organisms.
What do you see as the biggest challenge of independent natural food retailers?
As the products we sell go into more and more conventional stores the challenge for independents is to be competitive on pricing and maintain the market share that we have had all of these years. For some stores that is more difficult as more competition moves into some of these communities.
Do you think that not having direct competition in the Missoula area can in-and-of itself be a challenge? Yes, I think that sometimes when you do not have specific competition, it’s easy to take things for granted. We are certainly fortunate that we haven’t seen a large, national competitor move into Missoula. That doesn’t mean that we can rest on our laurels. Every day you have to maintain your standards of customer service and product integrity because that is what your customers have come to expect. It’s why people trust us and want to shop here.
The Good Food Store has a very strong core management team with a lot of longevity. What do you think has contributed most to retaining the members of that group? All of the members of our core management team have been with the Good Food Store for at least five years. I think the Good Food Store is a great place to work. Over the years one of our goals has been to offer competitive salaries and benefits not just to our management team, but to all of our employees. Also, because of our structure, our management team can take a lot of ownership in the success of the store. In addition, the managers all feel that the Good Food Store is a part of our