Every year I marvel when our anniversary celebration rolls around. On November 11th we celebrated 44 years of service to our community and customers. When my parents and I started Georgetown Health Foods in 1973 we had no idea what the future would bring. Looking back, what we had going for us was a good Westside location, low overhead and a big desire to help people with improving their health. We knew we had to have a knowledgeable staff and provide very good customer service and that is what we did. My father knew nothing about nutrition when he retired as an engineer from Allison’s in 1974 and joined the store full time. He always wanted to be a doctor and he did the next best thing by becoming self-taught and learning all he could about nutrition. In his late 70’s he decided to learn homeopathy so he read books and took classes. He even went to Canada to take a course and when he came home he said he was surprised he was the oldest person in the class. He was 79! I can remember him spending an hour with customers taking their personal history and then he would recommend a single remedy and tell the customer to report back to let him know how they were doing. He didn’t charge for his consultation. His desire to help others especially customers with cancer was an inspiration to me and I proudly followed in his steps by learning the latest in treating cancer holistically as well as other serious diseases.
How has a small, family owned, independent natural food retail store survived and flourished after 44 years in business? By having the commitment to provide a knowledgeable staff, top customer service, wide product selection, competitive pricing and an appreciation for our community, customers and staff. It is not easy being a small single store in an industry dominated by big corporate stores but we do the best we can to stay one step ahead like we did when CBD oil was under attack last June.
We look forward to some exciting changes coming to Georgetown this next year. Look for renovations to our food service department especially the juice bar. New produce cases will be installed. New paint inside and outside. Lighting inside and out will be installed to improve visibility. Other upgrades will take place too. We want to improve your experience when you shop with us as your patronage is of upmost importance. Thank you for the opportunity to be of service as we look forward to many more years to come. Happy 44!
