Committed to Health, Wellness and Education
It didn’t take much for me to decide that my next phase in life would involve opening an all-natural, all-organic gourmet grocery store. I have lived in the Lowcountry all my life, and the things that have been – and remain – a priority to me are good health and involvement in the community. I am excited to say that I’ve been able to funnel these priorities into a tangible, community oriented effort, and it’s called Herban Marketplace. We open Friday, January 20, fully stocked, fully ready, and utterly beside ourselves with excitement (and possibly a little giddiness) about what is to come. We know we’re onto something big, and every time we share our vision for the community with a friend, colleague or potential customer, we see it “click.”
I began my career as a critical care nurse at Beaufort Memorial Hospital, where I learned that there is real value in taking care of yourself. Prevention, wellness, exercise, eating healthy – these concepts are all tied together. I believe it’s true when they say you are what you eat. It used to be that “eating healthy” involved passing on the butter, but we are much smarter than that in 2012.
When I started to actively read food labels – both the nutritional information and the ingredients – I realized that if I truly wanted to commit myself to wellness, I had to make a real change. I began making weekly trips to Whole Foods and other health food stores between Charleston and Savannah and I did this for a long time. The traveling helped plant the seed in my mind to open a local, all-natural, one-stop grocery store. The multiple trips were exhausting, and I wasn’t always able to get all of the items on my list in once place. I wanted to change that.
As Herban Marketplace slowly but surely became a reality, my opening date plans changed. Originally planning a summer 2011 opening, I switched gears as the task list grew and the realization of what it would take to do things right – the first time – settled in. I decided that order for this dream to become reality it must be carefully handled and a focus on what is true and authentic must be constant, no matter how long the process took. Everything from the layout of the store and its items to the color of the refrigeration cases was carefully considered. I wanted Herban to have an “urban” feel. I think we’ve achieved that in many ways, including our fun smoothie and espresso bar with seating and WiFi.
Listening to the community by way of social media and the good old fashioned use of one-on-one conversation, I began learning what folks were really looking for, what products they needed and wanted. I met with amazing people from a natural foods distributor, as well as some local organic food providers. With their help, I created a list of literally everything a person could possibly need in one trip to the store. Last, but certainly not least, I found some great gals to help me run the place.
We offer everything from all-natural baby food, pet food, cleaning supplies, candy and snacks, a wide variety of bulk foods, organic meat and dairy, grab-and-go prepared meals and beautiful, fresh produce. There are a lot of brands you probably already know and some new ones that just might become your favorites.
Ultimately, the vision of Herban Marketplace is to promote health and wellness in the community. We want to make an impact. We want to offer families the resources they need to live a healthy lifestyle through education, product demonstrations, cooking classes and our health kiosk inside the store. We are committed to bringing the best organic products together to make planning meals easy and we strive to find exactly what our customers request. From special needs diets due to allergies to someone just looking to “get healthy,” we aim to be that resource for the Lowcountry.
Here’s to a Local, Urban, Organic 2012!
Looking forward to meeting and growing with you!
Herban Marketplace is located at 1211 Newcastle Street in Beaufort.
(843) 379-5550
Grand Opening Celebration
Friday, January 20, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Ribbon Cutting Ceremony 5:30 p.m.
Normal business hours all day, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
