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Vitamin Cottage stressing food in new name

Expansion plans have family-run markets thinking groceries first

By Joyzelle Davis, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published March 14, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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BAGGING IT Andrea Friedman, 28, of Denver, collects groceries in her own reusable bag Thursday during a shopping trip to Vitamin Cottage.

Photo by Silvia Razgova / Special to the Rocky

BAGGING IT Andrea Friedman, 28, of Denver, collects groceries in her own reusable bag Thursday during a shopping trip to Vitamin Cottage.

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After more than fifty years as Vitamin Cottage Natural Grocers, the family-run market is flipping its name to Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage.

The modified moniker comes as the Lakewood-based company expands later this year to Texas, where consumers might not realize that Vitamin Cottage sells groceries alongside nutritional supplements.

"When we go into new markets, it takes a lot of PR so people realize that we're not just another Vitamin World or GNC," said co-President Kemper Isley, who runs the company with his sister, brother and sister-in-law. "People think of us as just selling vitamins, when the majority of our business comes from groceries."

Long known in the Denver area, Vitamin Cottage plans to open in Dallas in June followed by another location later this year. The company also is gearing up for stores in Durango and Utah.

Texas is the backyard of Whole Foods, but Vitamin Cottage doesn't view itself as a direct competitor to the nation's biggest natural- and organic-foods supermarket. The average Vitamin Cottage store runs around 10,000 square feet and emphasizes value pricing, while Whole Foods locations are usually five times that size and have on-site bakeries and meat counters.

"We think that market's a bit underserved with the type of store that we have," Isley said.

Closer to home, Vitamin Cottage later this month is relocating its Happy Canyon store in south Denver to a larger location at South Colorado Boulevard and East Evans Avenue at the end of this month.

The stores will have the new Natural Grocers name, and the company is slowly swapping the signage at existing locations.

Although Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage "doesn't easily trip off the tongue," the name remains true to the brand's reputation for authenticity and integrity, said Steve Koloskus, founder of Denver-based Extra Strength Marketing Communications.

"Their shoppers really understand the category. They understand that they don't sell products with additives or preservatives," Koloskus said. The challenge for the chain is reaching out to a broader audience when stores ranging from King Soopers to Wal-Mart are beefing up organic and natural products offerings.

Margaret and Phillip Isley started the company in 1955. The husband and wife team went door-to-door in Golden selling whole-grain bread along with nutritional information and vitamin supplements. They opened their first retail store in Lakewood, offering a small amount of natural-food products, vitamins and supplements.

Today, the chain operates 26 stores, employing about 950 people. About half of the floor space of most stores is dedicated to natural- and organic-grocery items, which account for about 60 percent of the company's sales.

This year, the company expects around $190 million in sales. Overall sales have been growing by about 20 percent annually for nearly a decade, Isley said.

davisj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2514

Neither paper nor plastic

The new store at South Colorado Boulevard and East Evans Avenue will be the first in the chain to not give out any bags, plastic or paper. Instead, customers can bring their own reusable bag or the store will provide free recycled boxes.

If the idea works, Vitamin Cottage plans to expand the bagless concept to other stores, following a trend by other grocers to cut down on the use of plastic bags.

Comments

  • March 14, 2008

    12:18 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    LazyR writes:

    I don't care what they call themselves, I wish they'd address an underserved market closer to home. The Grand Junction VC needs to move to a new location and expand. We love them here!