Five years have passed since Chris Read opened his small health food store called Arnada Naturals, marking a milestone in a tough niche market.
Now in Uptown Village at 2407 Main Street, the store caters to nearby residents who are drawn to its collection of dairy-free and gluten-free foods, natural beauty products and natural vitamins.
“We built it by giving folks products they would normally have to drive to get, but in their own neighborhood,” said Read, who has lived in the Arnada neighborhood since 2002.
The store also attracts customers from east Vancouver and even Portland, averaging 15 to 50 customers per day. Many of them are regulars on a first-name basis with Read.
Read will celebrate five years of business on Nov. 15. Anniversary events will start at 11:15 a.m. and will include demonstrations and samples from local health food companies such as Bright Earth Foods. The store will also hold a drawing for a gift set.
It all started back in 2009. Read had been working for a natural supplements broker, where he was talking to health food stores every day. “I just thought, ‘Hey. I could do that,’ ” said Read, who once worked as a supplement buyer and nutrition department manager at Whole Foods.
Read took advantage of the low rent on the west side during the recession. He found an available space at 1705 Broadway St. and “snapped it up.” In fall of 2009, he opened Arnada Naturals as a health food store, offering all gluten-free products.
“It felt like what a health food store would do,” Read said, “In 2010, most people were skeptical. In 2011, every third person knew a person with a gluten allergy, and by 2012, everyone was connected to someone gluten-free.”
Read said his best marketing decision was registering his store on Google Maps. After that, Arnada Naturals gained a loyal following among local residents.
In April 2013, the store moved to 2407 Main Street. The new building offered more space and better parking than the Broadway location. Read said the move also helped him become part of a “walkable neighborhood.”
“I like to keep people off the asphalt,” Read said.
Courtney Lucas, the school psychologist at Hough Elementary, has been visiting the store for two years. She shops there three to four times a month and says she likes to visit during her lunch break. “I love it. It’s very accessible and really friendly,” Lucas said, “and he often has really cool samples.”
Lucas is interested in the beauty line, but mostly appreciates the dairy-free food options. According to Read, all products at Arnada Naturals are non-dairy except the raw milk. “I’m very conscientious about the impact what I buy has on humanity and the world,” Lucas said, “This store follows those principles.”
Vegan shopper Lynn Sargent said she stumbled upon the store in 2011. Sargent said she recently moved to Portland, but she still works in Vancouver and enjoys taking the bus to Arnada naturals to pick up snacks and drinks.
“This is my kind of store,” Sargent said.
Read said he modeled his store after the small shops he likes to frequent. He credits much of the business’ success to the store’s mom-and-pop feel. “It’s more personable and intimate,” Read said, “It’s also responsive. At big box stores, details fall through the cracks.”
Recently, customers have been looking for third-party certification labels, so the store is selling more USDA Organic and United States Pharmacopeia-certified foods and supplements, Read said.
As business grows, Read said he would like to add a juice bar, but he has no plans for expansion in the near future.
“Increases in volume of sales is always the goal,” Read said, “but we’ve kind of hit our stride with this location.”
