Richard's Foodporium finds a place in our lives

John Rorer, who brings fresh vision as the new owner of Richard's Foodporium, hopes to find a place in your life.

It's true; as Stephen McFadden and I stepped through the door and onto wood laminated floors and warm colors of red and tan, we were greeted by the two women working there as though we were friends.

The vision for this growing enterprise is not only to step back to the familiarity of past times of person-to-person contact, but also to reach forward and offer all you need in one place. Keeping with current emphasis on nutritional health, Rorer proudly attests that his stores offer about 1/3 supplements, 1/3 bulk and 1/3 grocery. Wow. That is impressive! For a small store to offer such a high quantity of bulk and supplements is unique indeed.

Richard Downey first founded Richard's Foodporium in 1979, and the original store still exists on the corner of Ringling Boulevard and Tuttle Avenue. His vision was inspired by his experience; most natural foods, including bulk, were priced out of the average consumer's range in the '70s. His hope was to offer stores in each neighborhood that would be small, friendly and price competitive which would give people easy access to bulk, supplements and volume purchase. Before handing things over to Rorer, Downey established six stores. Rorer, deeply inspired by Richard's vision to provide greater freedom in making healthy choices, has built upon it by adding groceries, updated branding and team-building techniques.

Asking Rorer about the ever-growing private label upon diverse items throughout the store, he mentioned the longstanding relationships built with natural food suppliers. Richard's only takes on suppliers that meet their own standards of quality, so you can rest assured they stand behind the product.

In line with their forward thinking, Richard's has also opened new franchise opportunities. For a company committed to quality, this is a good thing. Why reinvent the wheel? Richard's has the wheel rolling at steady pace, ready to be replicated by those who, like John Rorer, find themselves inspired by the vision.

Venture out to one of their stores, or come see them at our local community-building festival, Vibrance Natural Living Festival, which takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. The festival benefits Girls Inc and will host local people and businesses passionate about natural holistic options for ourselves, our pets and our world.