Sweet Peas offers organic food
For Sweet Peas Natural Market owner Patrice Surley, one thing was missing when she arrived in Logan – an organic health food store.
Opening just over a year ago on March 6, 2006, Sweet Peas offers a diverse selection of organic food and herbal medical remedies, along with a few household and personal care items.
With its natural wood floors and music filling the room, this market reaches a new level of health and wellness.
“The ethic that I was keeping in mind when we chose to come downtown and renovate an old building and use existing space that’s got good character was (not) paying a ton of money and creating a large debt for a new business by building. Using all of those resources and plowing over some trees – that just didn’t seem nice to me,” she said.
Surley enjoys their location; right across the street from the Caine Lyric Theatre and next door to the Great Harvest Bread Company, Sweet Peas is smack dab in the middle of Logan’s rediscovered district. Although Surley stands by her spot choice for the market, she said she feels that most people never make it to her part of town.
“I love the location,” Surley said, “and most of my customers like it, too. But I think it’s somewhat detrimental to the business just because the way the town is developing. It seems like most of the development is on the north side of town, people don’t even come down here.”
Surley has taken ownership of the used, old building and created what she has always wanted, a store of her own. By opening the market, Surley and her family hoped to find a way to stabilize their income and remain in Logan, she said.
Expansion of the store is also something that has been on Surley’s mind. Some kind of extra renovation would be in order to get the prepped food-type cafe Surley would like to create, she said. But with all of this in mind, including the money that will be needed to pay for kitchen equipment, Surley said she doesn’t feel that this is an endeavor she is prepared for.
“We’ve only been open for a year, so we have been far from lucrative,” Surley said, “but we’re finally starting to feel a little bit better.”
Customer interaction has been incredibly fulfilling for Surley, she said, as every person who walks through the market door receives a welcome greeting and individual service. Tea is also offered – only a small donation is asked for the price of the tea – for those who would like to take time to enjoy their day sitting at the tables facing the city street.
“The thing about this business is that it really crosses a lot of demographics,” Surley said. “I love dealing with people that don’t have a lot of money because I can really save them a lot of money.”
To create organic foods, farmers eliminate the use of chemicals on their crops, and Surley’s products are both NOSB and USDA-approved organic. People who have lived in places that have had limited access to this type of food think organic items are too exotic and expensive, Surley said.
Some grocery stores have overpriced organic foods, Surley said, but she makes sure that her produce remains affordable so customers are able to get all the things they need in one stop at her store.
“I think I do have the best priced organic produce in town, for sure,” Surley said. “Everything else I kind of ignore, but produce, I’ve got them all beat. Better stuff, too.”
While enjoying running her own store and maintaining personal relationships with her customers, Surley has been able to reach the community in a lasting and meaningful way. Surley looks forward to helping others in solving health problems through organic methods and improving their overall quality of life for many years to come.
“Just to offer a really good variety of good, natural, organic, wholesome foods at reasonable rates,” Surley said of the mission of the store. “Just to make it available.”
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