Attention: Be sure you read all the way to the end of the Chestertown Natural Foods Retailer Story! Chestertown Natural Foods has customized a special offer for June 2010 that ends on the 6th!

By: Marsha Bonecutter Trish Gruber, owner of Chestertown Natural Foods in Chestertown Maryland, discovered her life’s passion at an early age. A family friend worked at a local park as an Interpretive Naturalist and took 12 year old Trish along on a nature walk. Trish was hooked. She began “learning the ropes” and to identify plants, birds and wildlife. Soon she was conducting her own walks and continued to work at the park every summer until age 17. Trish was born in the beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania, but chose West Virginia University at Morgantown for college, because they offered courses specifically for a career as an Interpretive Naturalist. While in college, Trish met her husband, Jim. “Part of the marriage agreement was that I’d move to Chestertown (Jim’s hometown),” laughs Trish. “It was a very big adjustment leaving my beloved hills of Pennsylvania for the flat Maryland farmland, but while there were no hills, the beautiful Maryland sky made up for it.”

Another difficult aspect of her adjustment was due to allergies. Food sensitivities made it impossible for Trish to shop at regular grocery stores. To add to the dilemma, the closest health food store was almost an hour away, making it very inconvenient for weekly shopping. As the saying goes, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going”. Trish did exactly that—she “got going” organizing a natural foods buying club in 1989. “I figured, if I was having this problem, there must be others”, said Trish, “so I put an ad in the local paper to find members.” Trish found a distributor who would deliver to their small rural area and the membership grew. The group met and placed their orders once a month and a team would meet the truck and fill the orders. As time passed, more and more of the work was being done by fewer and fewer people, until Trish was running the buying club by herself. “I gave the members a choice to either promise me reliable help, or let me take it over as a business.” They were more than happy to let Trish do that, and Chestertown Natural Foods opened its doors on June 19th, 1993. For three years the store flourished in their small first location, until “growing pains” compelled the move to their second store at 214 Cannon Street where they remained for 10 years. In January 2007, Trish “packed up” and moved just up the street to 303 Cannon Street, where you can find them today. “We made the entire move in 4 ½ days over the New Year’s holiday.” says Trish. “We didn’t want to be closed for an extended time, so we wrapped our fully stocked shelves in plastic pallet wrap and just rolled them up the street!” The old building was a blank slate and Trish was able to choose the entire decor and of course, she chose all “earth friendly” materials. Chestertown Natural Foods now employees 10 people in their 2,300 square foot facility.

One can find a vast array of natural products on the shelves at Chestertown Natural Foods. From fresh organic produce, Greek yogurt, the entire line of New Chapter supplements, (Trish’s favorite), to Berlin Natural Bakery Sprouted Biblical Bread, (also a favorite), you can certainly find everything you need to live a healthy lifestyle. “We will do everything we can to help you find the tools you seek to create wellness and we will do it with honesty and integrity.” promises Trish. The deep love of nature and our planet that Trish has nurtured since childhood has served her well over the years. Her background in environmental education and naturalist teaching has helped many people create wellness in their lives. “The health of ourselves and the health of the planet comes down to one simple thing—the food we choose to put in our mouths; how and where that food is grown and how it’s processed. I wanted to share that knowledge with others and then provide them with products that were a better choice for them and the planet.”

*******Chestertown Natural Foods Special Offers*******

Berlin Natural Bakery Product Specials at Chestertown Natural Foods 20% off on White Spelt Bread 20% off Sprouted Biblical Spelt Bread 20% off Amish Country White Spelt Noodles. Take advantage of these offers today by saying to the cashier “I saw the retailer story on Chestertown Natural Foods at Berlin Natural Bakery’s Website and would like to take advantage of the discount on my [Bread/Noodles]” Special Offer Expires June 6, 2010.

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