The July 22 story reported “Downtown residents in the market for a grocery store: Vancouver women working to fill what they see as a need.”
From October 2010 to June 2014, Neighbors Market was open seven days a week at 1707 Main St. My store carried more than 200 products from local producers. All of the produce that we sold came from within 200 miles and most from within 40 miles. All of the products were natural, and even the snack foods were relatively healthy.
Downtown provided plenty of support, and my store sales averaged 20 percent gains year over year. Unfortunately, I hit burnout and closed the store.
The economic reality is that Vancouver’s downtown population is years from being dense enough to support a chain store that exists for profit. And you consumers are sending mixed messages: You want local, healthy and conventional at large, chain store prices?
