WHITEHALL — The former Healthy Pantry grocery store - now Healthy Roots - celebrated its two-year anniversary under new ownership, as well as its new downtown Whitehall location, with a ribbon-cutting event Saturday morning.
Meredith Kuiper, along with husband Paul and their children, purchased the store in 2023 after learning from its then-owners that it would otherwise be closed. When she took it over, she had big dreams, and she feels moving the store downtown gets her closer to achieving them. The store was previously in the former Plumb's plaza near Colby's Cafe and Brew.
"I feel like this is the space that can probably take us all the way," Kuiper said.
Among the many things about the new space, which is located between Pitkin and Pub One Eleven on Colby Street, that Kuiper is excited about is the certified kitchen the store now has on its premises. The kitchen serves homemade Thai food cooked in-house.
"The biggest deal for me was the ability to have ready-to-eat good food in-house," Kuiper said. "We couldn't do that in (the previous) space...I see this being our permanent home. I can't imagine leaving it. That being said, life has thrown me so many curveballs, I can't say anything's written in stone. I know anything can change in a heartbeat."
In addition to the health food products available on site, Kuiper has expanded the store's health and beauty offerings. A small selection of books have popped up in the front area of the store, which also includes an area for kids to play with toys while parents shop if desired. Kuiper hopes to expand the book offerings and turn the space into a library for those wanting more information on a healthy life.
"I'd like to be able to do a library where people pay a small yearly fee and they can check out books whenever they want to, and we (would) have the good books that they're looking to read, the ones that I'm constantly recommending," Kuiper said.
The expanded space also enables Kuiper to have her family with her in the store, which wasn't comfortably possible before. Kuiper said she feels most comfortable with the way things are running if she can be there serving "as the driver."
Over time, the store would love to turn the whole building into a healthy destination, where other health-focused businesses could team up with Healthy Roots. Kuiper also is excited about the historical significance of being in one of the city's oldest buildings, as well as the improved accessibility a downtown location can offer.
"This is the first time I know that we've actually had walking traffic," Kuiper said. "I don't know if we were getting it at the other store. Maybe a little bit, but I hadn't heard it. I've had people say, 'Now I can walk from my house,' or, 'I can walk up from where I work,' and so I think we're going to get a lot more foot traffic here. Our parking setup is way better.
"(The building) still has the original ceiling, so we're trying to eventually get to the place where the building looks more like it did then, than it did in the 1960s."
Kuiper's desire "to serve the community and serve it well" extends beyond her store, as she is eager to give recommendations on any number of topics to anyone looking to focus on healthy products.
"I always want people to know that we're here for them, and we're here to walk through whatever," Kuiper said. "It doesn't matter what kind of day they've had, they can always come in here and find somebody that's ready to help and listen."
