All natural, all the time
COEUR d'ALENE - A Colorado company is building a Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage outlet in Coeur d'Alene near U.S. 95 and Neider Avenue with plans to open in March.
Nancy Flynn, director of marketing at Vitamin Cottage Natural Food Markets Inc., said it will be the company's third outlet in Idaho. One was opened in Boise in February 2012 and an Idaho Falls outlet will open in November.
The 15,000-sqaure-foot Coeur d'Alene store, at 222 W. Neider Ave., will have about 25 employees, Flynn said. The company will begin posting for those positions in December on its website, www.naturalgrocers.com.
A building permit with the city of Coeur d'Alene shows the construction valuation is $2.1 million. Construction at the site, just to the south of the Red Lobster seafood restaurant, is already underway.
Flynn said the company is eager to approve as many local products as possible to sell in the store.
"We hope that folks will visit our website for that reason also," she said.
She added: "We have been around since 1955 and have had the same family managing all our stores, all these years, which helps retain our strong founding principles."
The company was established by Margaret and Philip Isely, who are the parents of the current company leaders.
Natural Grocers sell only U.S. Department of Agriculture certified organic produce. The stores don't sell products containing artificial ingredients, hydrogenated oils or trans fats.
The store in Coeur d'Alene will have a demonstration kitchen with meeting space for cooking classes, and be available for rent or free to most nonprofits.
It will have a public community room offering free coffee and tea each morning with free Wi-Fi all day.
The stores always have a credentialed nutritional health coach on staff to offer free information on personal health, meal planning, dietary changes, and similar topics.
The store hours will be unusual: Monday through Saturday it opens at 8:56 a.m. and closes at 8:04 p.m. On Sundays it will open at 9:56 a.m. and closes at 7:06 p.m.
"We want all our customers to know we are glad they are shopping with us, so if we are able to open the doors a bit earlier in the morning, we will gladly do so," Flynn said. "By the same token, we will not rush them out of the store in the evening if they are running a bit late and need more time to shop."
The general contractor is Hayward Builders, of Fountain Hills, Ariz., and Vega Architecture LLC, of Denver, handled the building design.