The Natural Store, which originally opened in Falmouth 20 years ago, has moved into significantly larger premises opposite the Prince of Wales Pier in the town.
Having previously been split into two adjacent, but unconnected, shops – one with food and the other with supplements – the new premises consists of two floors covering a total of 2250sqft.
The store’s Gavin Kaufman told NPN the reasons behind the move: “The main issue was space, and having to always chop and change between shops was not ideal either. The new store is a lot bigger but we have kept all the wooden cabinets from the old premises to try and retain the cosy and quirky atmosphere while still expanding the offer.”
“We were more of a destination shop but now we’re in an amazing prime location opposite the pier,” explains Kaufman. “We really are grateful for the loyalty of all of the people who have shopped with us over the years, and what is wonderful now is that we’re getting people who never knew about the store just walking in off the street. People who aren’t necessarily interested primarily in health foods or healthy products are coming in and discovering new things.”
The bigger store has enabled a variety of new features including combined deli counter and juice bar, which uses the organic fruit and veg the shop sells, as well as an upstairs café with views of the pier and harbour. The café, which will open in March, will share the space with the store’s bodycare, supplements and remedies offer, and offer organic, vegetarian, vegan and free-from food.
“The extra space means also we can expand some of the lines we already had and bring in new products as well,” says Kaufman. “For instance we’ve just introduced the Common Loaf bakery. They came in a few weeks ago to demonstrate and sample their line and now we’ve brought it in – we could not have done that before, we just didn’t have the space, but now there’s an area at the front of the store which is ideal for sampling.”
He adds: “We want to utilize the upstairs space when the café is up and running for talks, workshops and events, and also make it a community hub for people to come and relax; where they can sit down and meet friends. We want customers to see the people who work in the shop as familiar faces who are always happy to see them, chat to them and take an interest.”
