Newspaper Page Text
PERIMETER BUSINESS
Nuts N' Berries remains in good health more than 30 years later
Dan Whisenhunt
Mark and Soodi Kick opened their health food store in 1980 and have
expanded their lines of business, playing to their strengths with ‘a
higher ratio of employee attention’ to their customers’ concerns.
By Dan Whisenhunt
Mark and Soodi Kick opened their
Brookhaven health food store in 1980
at the corner of Ashford Dunwoody
and Peachtree roads.
The vegetarian couple had moved
to Atlanta from Los Angeles and found
the local health food market lacking.
Soodi said she had to drive 10 to 12
miles just "to buy food for my family."
"Introducing what health food
can do for you was a major
part of our job back then,"
Mark said.
More than 30 years later,
their Nuts N' Berries store
thrives in a city where near
ly every supermarket of
fers up food with labels promising
"raw," "natural" or "organic" foods.
In order to keep Nuts N' Berries'
bottom line healthy, the company
had to become something more than
a health food store.
The couple met in architecture
school at Ohio University. They
moved to Atlanta because it was
"a more family-oriented place than
L.A.," Mark said. They've been mar
ried 42 years.
In 1992, the Kicks moved the Nuts
N' Berries store down Peachtree to
its intersection with Kendrick Road.
The main section of the store sells
a selection of produce and a bounty
of nutritional supplements. It smells
of crushed roasted peanuts, a by
product of a machine that makes
fresh peanut butter.
Store manager Betsy Mylander
said customers come from Ogletho
rpe University, DeKalb Peachtree
Airport, an Audi dealership and the
Centers for Disease Control and Pre
vention.
As the health food market
evolved, the Kicks tweaked their
business model. Today Nuts N' Ber
ries functions as a personal wellness
center. Soodi is a certified nutrition
ist.
The company leases space to the
Brookhaven Bistro, a restaurant con
nected to the main store that offers
healthy cuisine.
Brookhaven Bistro chef Chip
Desormeaux said that, since he took
over the restaurant in 2007, he's
worked to establish a menu for veg
etarians and their non-vegetarian
friends.
"The thing that seems to help here
is to hit a middle line with healthy
food," Desormeaux said.
It's also a matter of econom
ics, Mark said. Catering only to one
crowd would make the food more
expensive.
On the second floor is a spa, Alef
Skin Care and a company called
Brainscapes which claims its brain
wave therapy can alleviate the symp
toms of a variety of mental and phys
ical afflictions.
Mark said he played to his com
pany's strengths to stay competitive
with big-box grocery stores.
He dropped dairy products and
oriented the business around em
ployee knowledge, product variety
and customer service.
He said the company of
fers customers a person
al touch they might not be
able to find elsewhere.
"If a customer comes in,
they will get a much high
er ratio of employee attention to their
concerns," Mark said.
Mark and Soodi intended to re
tire from the business a decade ago.
In 2002, they sold it to a businessman
from Japan.
Eventually, the new owner moved
back to Japan and attempted to oper
ate the company from afar. Sales be
gan to decline.
The couple bought the business
back a year ago.
Mark said he's worked to rebuild
the store's brand and reestablish re
lationships with customers.
He said he's making progress.
"We're seeing our customer count
go up," Mark said.
The personal side of being healthy
is what keeps the Kicks motivated.
Mark said he enjoys the feedback
from customers who have shopped
at the store for years.
"We're really looking out for the
prosperity of Brookhaven," Mark
said.
HAMMOND
Custom Office Buildings available in the Heart of Central Perimeter
• For Sale or Lease
Free standing custom buildings
(5,000-35,000 SF)
Location/Access
Barfield Rd. & Hammond Dr.
Along GA400 in Central Perimeter
Free parking above market (5/1000) ratio
Join UPS, Newell Rubbermaid,
Global Payments, IBM, JAS, Byers
Engineering, Northside Hospital/
Laureate Medical and Thomas Eye
Group who have chosen Barfield Road/
Glenlake Parkway as the premier
address in the Central Perimeter.
MidCity
Kirk Demetrops
678-990-6252
Tom Wakefield
678-990-6256
Real Estate Partners
www.MidCityPartners.com
Perimeter
Profile
www.ReporterNewspapers.netl MARCH22—APRIL4,2013 | 13
