People who have special diets or like to eat food without additives will have another place to shop in the Quad Cities. Wednesday morning, Natural Grocers will open a new store in Davenport on 53rd Street next to Rave Cinemas.
Store Manager, Brad Orendorff, says a Colorado couple founded the company as Vitamin Cottage in 1955, and later expanded to include groceries. One of its goals is to teach people about nutrition and how to make choices that will improve their health.
Another is to make organic and healthy products affordable for everyone. And Orendorff says Natural Grocers is committed to serving the community. For example, the Davenport store won't use paper or plastic disposable bags at all. The store will donate five cents to the River Bend Food Bank every time a customer brings in reusable bags.
The 15,000 square foot store has hired 20, full time employees and features a demonstration kitchen for cooking classes, a nutritional health coach, and free coffee every day from 8 to 11 am.
For tomorrow's opening, Orendorff says Natural Grocers will give away gluten-free muffins in the morning, then ice cream later with dairy-free products for customers to try along with certified organic brands.