Bare Essentials growing organically
by Scott Nicholson
Ben Henderson took something he was passionate about and built it into a successful small business whose best investment is in his customers' overall well-being.
Henderson, who owns Bare Essentials Natural market with his wife Mary Underwood, switched sides of the counter in 1988, when he was a customer of the store in its downtown location.
"Mary and I had always been interested in it," he said. "I had a graduate degree in public health and Mary was always interested in natural foods."
The couple purchased the business and operated it out of a 1,000-square foot storefront on King Street, but the business outgrew the facility in a few years. They began laying plans in 1995 for a new location when the Heavenly Mountain development seemed poised to bring hundreds of health-conscious residents to the area.
The new store at 273 Boone Heights Drive opened just before the end of 1997, and the next year Bare Essentials was the first company to use ECR point-of-sale software, which marked the launch of another successful local business.
"We were kind of the oddity in the area," Henderson said. "We were trying to make people aware of food that tasted good. There's been a general recognition on the part of (grocery) businesses that if it doesn't taste good, people don't want it."
That fundamental prospect has allowed Henderson to successfully compete with chain grocery stores that operate on quantity and variety. But Henderson said that very operating model is what causes consumers to second-guess their food purchases.
"In the bigger stores, people see these little sections of organic and natural foods touting how good they are for you," Henderson said. "And the consumer wonders, 'If it's so much better for me, why isn't everything like that in this store?'"
Along with health consciousness, people are also more sensitive to local economies and local foods, which cause them to look at more than just a price tag when calculating the true cost of food and its impact on the world.
"Our core customer is health conscious and socially conscious," Henderson said. "It's more than just giving lip service. Our customers are willing to go out of their way to support local foods and local businesses. We continually reinvent ourselves to meet the needs of the marketplace and become better business people."
Henderson also supports local farms by offering their products and serving as a pick-up spot for community-supported agriculture shares.
"It enhances our business and brings people into the store," he said. "Actually, our job is about education as much as it is customer service. It's not your traditional retail outlet."
Bare Essentials has a separate section devoted to herbal supplements and other natural products to support healthy living, and three of the 14 store employees operate that section and share their knowledge.
"They are extremely articulate and well educated," Henderson said. "There is no certification for what they are doing, but they know their business. They are not prescribing or practicing medicine, but they know about the products we are carrying."
The growing health movement caught the eye of corporate stores as they beefed up their entry into the natural-foods market.
Henderson said demand is beginning to outstrip supply, and he welcomed more rigorous standards to earn the "organic" label.
The social consciousness that led people to become vegetarians has adjusted as more local meat entered the market.
Henderson said that 20 years ago, only "factory-farmed meat" was available, but now there are free-range options and products approved by the Animal Welfare Institution, an organization that monitors how animals are raised and treated.
"Six years ago was just the beginning of the local food effort," Henderson said. "There's almost literally an explosion of local eggs, meat and cheese. There's a general awareness of the healthier products out there and that you literally are what you eat. The awareness goes beyond individual health issues to how the products are raised, produced and prepared."
With Bare Essentials now in its 27th year of business, Henderson is ready to change even more and has been an ardent support of community events while retaining loyal staff members who have been there a decade or more.
"We didn't start out to be revolutionaries," Henderson said. "We just had a passion and it became popular and fashionable."
Bare Essentials Natural Market is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday.
To learn more about the store, call (828) 262-5592.
Henderson, who owns Bare Essentials Natural market with his wife Mary Underwood, switched sides of the counter in 1988, when he was a customer of the store in its downtown location.
"Mary and I had always been interested in it," he said. "I had a graduate degree in public health and Mary was always interested in natural foods."
The couple purchased the business and operated it out of a 1,000-square foot storefront on King Street, but the business outgrew the facility in a few years. They began laying plans in 1995 for a new location when the Heavenly Mountain development seemed poised to bring hundreds of health-conscious residents to the area.
The new store at 273 Boone Heights Drive opened just before the end of 1997, and the next year Bare Essentials was the first company to use ECR point-of-sale software, which marked the launch of another successful local business.
"We were kind of the oddity in the area," Henderson said. "We were trying to make people aware of food that tasted good. There's been a general recognition on the part of (grocery) businesses that if it doesn't taste good, people don't want it."
That fundamental prospect has allowed Henderson to successfully compete with chain grocery stores that operate on quantity and variety. But Henderson said that very operating model is what causes consumers to second-guess their food purchases.
"In the bigger stores, people see these little sections of organic and natural foods touting how good they are for you," Henderson said. "And the consumer wonders, 'If it's so much better for me, why isn't everything like that in this store?'"
Along with health consciousness, people are also more sensitive to local economies and local foods, which cause them to look at more than just a price tag when calculating the true cost of food and its impact on the world.
"Our core customer is health conscious and socially conscious," Henderson said. "It's more than just giving lip service. Our customers are willing to go out of their way to support local foods and local businesses. We continually reinvent ourselves to meet the needs of the marketplace and become better business people."
Henderson also supports local farms by offering their products and serving as a pick-up spot for community-supported agriculture shares.
"It enhances our business and brings people into the store," he said. "Actually, our job is about education as much as it is customer service. It's not your traditional retail outlet."
Bare Essentials has a separate section devoted to herbal supplements and other natural products to support healthy living, and three of the 14 store employees operate that section and share their knowledge.
"They are extremely articulate and well educated," Henderson said. "There is no certification for what they are doing, but they know their business. They are not prescribing or practicing medicine, but they know about the products we are carrying."
The growing health movement caught the eye of corporate stores as they beefed up their entry into the natural-foods market.
Henderson said demand is beginning to outstrip supply, and he welcomed more rigorous standards to earn the "organic" label.
The social consciousness that led people to become vegetarians has adjusted as more local meat entered the market.
Henderson said that 20 years ago, only "factory-farmed meat" was available, but now there are free-range options and products approved by the Animal Welfare Institution, an organization that monitors how animals are raised and treated.
"Six years ago was just the beginning of the local food effort," Henderson said. "There's almost literally an explosion of local eggs, meat and cheese. There's a general awareness of the healthier products out there and that you literally are what you eat. The awareness goes beyond individual health issues to how the products are raised, produced and prepared."
With Bare Essentials now in its 27th year of business, Henderson is ready to change even more and has been an ardent support of community events while retaining loyal staff members who have been there a decade or more.
"We didn't start out to be revolutionaries," Henderson said. "We just had a passion and it became popular and fashionable."
Bare Essentials Natural Market is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon until 6 p.m. on Sunday.
To learn more about the store, call (828) 262-5592.