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activist local stores like Daily and Phoenix. Ii.
stark contrast to Daily's newsletter. The Daily
Monthly — an overtly political publication that
keeps members updated on boycotts and the
like — Earth Fare's monthly newsletter reads
like an advertising supplement, promoting
products and sharing recipes that suggest spe
cific brand-name ingredients.
Another marked difference that will
broaden Earth Fare's appeal is the fact
that it will offer free-range and organic
meats, as well as a selection of fish.
The only meat products Daily offers are
dolphin-safe tuna and organic pet
foods. Phoenix and Zucchini's only
offer meat during the holiday season
when customers can special order free-
range organic turkeys. (The meat issue
just might be enough to scare away a
handful of potential Earth Fare cus
tomers, hard-core vegetarians and
animal activists who refuse to patronize
establishments that offer animal prod
ucts.)
Earth Fare's accessible image is quite
deliberate; the depoliticization of the
natural foods industry has helped open
it to an entirely new brand of con
sumer. What was once a series of cot
tage industries and forward-thinking
hippies has become big business.
The National Natural Foods
Association (NNFA) is an organization
representing the interests of more than
4,000 health food and natural product
companies across the country. Carylene
Reed, executive director of NNFA,
addresses a new movement in natural foods.
"The economic trend is that more larger corpo
rations are getting into the health food
industry — they're beginning to see the dollar
signs.” she says.
But Reed, like many others, says there is
continued room — and hope — for the little
guy. "Small companies who have believed in
the natural way from the beginning will sur-’
vive,” she says, "because these companies know
the market and the product."
The employees of Phoenix Market tend to
agree. Phoenix opened its doors in 1976 in Five
Points and moved to its current 3,000 square
foot location on Pulaski Street in 1979. "We re
actually really excited— it’s a catalyst for us,”
says Brian Keever, manager of Phoenix. "We
believe we can offer consistently better service.
Earth Fare will be good for Five Points and
Athens in general, and will increase the aware
ness of the whole industry."
John Andrews, owner of Phoenix, echoes
Keever's sentiments. Andrews has been rubbing
elbows with Earth Fare founders at trade shows
for years and considers them his friends. He is
certain that the new store will fit right in to
the Athens natural foods industry.
Reed points out a beneficial trickle-down
effect that many smaller stores experience
when the corporate chains enter the scene. The
theory is that a big fancy store will increase
awareness and newly aware consumers will seek
out health food wherever it's convenient. Big
corporations have large advertising budgets and
mass advertising of natural products can have a
positive effect on smaller stores that sell sim
ilar products. "Small stores will reap benefits
because of that," explains Reed. "We want to
see the independent stores stay alive."
Of course, there are many other factors that
determine whether the smaller stores will sur
vive. and not everyone sees such a rosy future.
An article by Nancy Nachman-Hunt in the
October 1998 issue of Natural Business states.
"The outcome of decades of consumer educa
tion by the natural products industry has suc
ceeded in bringing natural products to the
mainstream... [but] Unless some unforeseen
and dramatic circumstances arise,
[smaller, specialty, and independent]
stores will be faced with increasingly
stiff competition from the mass market
for the consumer's dollars."
However, Frank Lampe, editorial
director of Natural Business , says small
stores might not be the hardest hit in
Athens. "When one of these large [nat
ural] grocers comes in, it's generally
the mainstream grocery stores that get
hit the most." he says. "Because [the
natural foods supermarket clientele]
are not the shoppers that would go to a
health food store in the first place."
Phoenix owner Andrews foresees a
possible impact Earth Fare may have on
larger supermarkets. "We are customer
oriented and information oriented;
sometimes smaller businesses can offer
different service than other stores," he
says. "It's hard to make a judgment
call, but it may have a bigger impact
on Kroger and Harris Teeter and
’ Publix."
Calls tc these supermarkets
revealed, predictably, that their man
agement isn't very worried. But a call
to Jill Heishmann of French Broad, a
small co-op in Asheville, offers some
insight into what the Athens' little guys should
expect. Earth Fare was originally a small locally
owned market known as Dinner for the Earth,
which opened in 1974. It expanded to the large
supermarket format, changed its name in 1992
and gradually opened stores in other cities. "At
first it did have a negative impact." Heishmann
"Earth Fare... will increase the awareness of the whole industry," says Brian Keever, manager of Phoenix.
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