Health Food Store Nature’s Way Opens in The Marketplace

 

Manager Carmen Rhodes and director Phillip Fahie in the new Nature’s Way on the second floor of The Marketplace.

Wholesome cereals, whole grains, organic teas and bulk all natural snacks line the shelves in Love City’s new health food store, Nature’s Way, located on the second floor of The Marketplace.

The newest store in the St. John shopping complex enjoyed a soft opening last week in the former Black Sand Bistro and Gastro Grub location next to Innovative.

Nature’s Way manager Carmen Rhodes and director Phillip Fahie were still busy filling those shelves last week while many people were popping by to see their wares.

“We are doing a soft opening for our retail items,” said Rhodes. “We’ll be adding things every day, but we are open for business.”

Nature’s Way has exciting plans to welcome a vegan chef in the next few weeks who will be whipping up freshly prepared entrees and deli items, Rhodes explained.

“Our vegan chef should be here in a week and a half,” said Rhodes. “We’ll be adding a lot more items then and we’re really excited.”

Nature’s Way will also be the place to pick up a vitamin-packed smoothie, Fahie added.

“We’re going to have smoothies with a variety of vitamins and herbs for specific functions like a women’s multivitamin and an immune builder,” he said. “We’ll also have fresh squeezed juices like carrots and beets and we will have wheatgrass too.”

Customers can also look forward to stocking up on natural detergents, vitamins, herbs and body care items once Nature’s Way inventory is complete.

And Fahie plans to have a naturopathic doctor on hand as well, he added.

“We’re going to have naturopathic items and a naturopathic doctor who will be consulting on a regular basis,” said the Nature’s Way director.

What other items fill the store’s shelves will be up to the public, Rhodes explained.

“We are asking everyone to complete a survey on our website so we can see what they want to have in the store,” said Rhodes. “We really want to hear from people on St. John about what they want us to carry.”

Check out www.naturesway.vg to access the survey, which was planned to be uploaded to the site this week, or just stop by the store and share and those ideas, Rhodes added.

Fahie, whose family owns four other Nature’s Way stores — two on Tortola, one on Virgin Gorda and one in Puerto Rico — was originally planning to open the next location on St. Croix, when he discovered The Marketplace and the need for a health food store on St. John, he explained.

“I had a meeting at The Marketplace and saw this space which was perfect for our store,” said Fahie. “I asked around and realized there were no health food stores on the island. I have to thank Debbie and Barbara who were really helpful through the whole process.”

For now Nature’s Way is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and after a lunch break from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Those hours will be extended in October. For more information call the store at 693-3333.