Press Room

Member Interview: Dean's Natural Food Market

 

How long have you been in the natural food business? When did you open your stores? Dean’s will have been opened thirteen years in November. The Ocean Township location was the first to open. I worked in a natural food store for two years before I opened my own store.

... more >>

Member Interview: Rising Tide

 

AS: Can you give me a little bit of background on how you got started? JF: We started as a very small store in 1976. It was an 800 sq foot store, my best friend (Michael Melia) from high school was studying macrobiotics in Boston and he came to visit me and put together a class. He decided that he would like to move back down into Long Island and there was really no place to shop for bulk natural foods here so we would drive into New York city, which was an hour away. We decided it would be great to start our own store. So we rented an old deli and started buying from Erewhon. We were the first to sell grains, beans, nuts, miso and dried fruit in bulk in the area. We were the first on LI to sell tofu, no one really knew about it. We went to a Japanese tofu maker in New York.  ... more >>

Member Interview: Jimbo's...Naturally!

 

AA: How did Jimbo’s get started? JS: In 1984, after working eleven years in a worker's collective/co-op, I opened my first store.  I subsequently sold that store in 1997.

 

Did you always see yourself going into natural foods?  Well it depends on how far back you go. I started in the worker’s collective when I was 19 years old. So I guess it was something I felt pretty passionate about from the beginning. When I was younger I wasn’t thinking in that realm. I thought about being a baseball player, sports caster, a teacher or perhaps an accountant.

  ... more >>

Member Interview: Nature's Food Patch

Since its establishment in 1987, it has been dedicated to offering a complete selection of organic and natural products.  Nature’s Food Patch is also home to the Bunny Hop Café and Deli which serves up international natural cuisine.  Laurie Powers-Shamon has been the store director for over two decades.  She is currently in the midst of directing the store’s latest expansion which will add another 7,000 square feet. ... more >>

Member Interview: Cornucopia Foods

 

AS: Can you give me a little bit of background on your store? BS: My wife and I started Cornucopia in 1980, almost thirty years ago. We’re in a town of 30 thousand and our store is pretty small. It’s only 2000 sq feet, yet we’re doing 2.5 million out of it, more than a thousand per foot! That’s with having a lot of competition, Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, a huge coop and a discount natural food store.

... more >>