|  While
Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage may be new to you, the people
of Colorado have been visiting our stores since 1955. It was then
that our parents, Margaret and Phillip Isely, borrowed $200 from
Margaret's mother and started the business. They began by going
door-to-door in Golden, Colorado, selling whole grain bread and
lending nutrition education books to the people they met. The Iselys
knew that as people learned about good nutrition, they would need
to order vitamins and bulk foods. They would return a week later
to take orders for vitamins, supplements, and whole foods.
Their door-to-door business was successful enough that they were
able to open their first retail storefront within six months. In
1963, they purchased a store in Lakewood, Colorado that looked like
a country cottage. At the time, they were primarily selling vitamins
and supplements, so they named the new store "Vitamin Cottage."
In the 1960s, living a healthy lifestyle wasn't always very fashionable.
Our parents struggled to make a living selling vitamins, natural
foods and related products. During this time, Zephyr joined the
business and began investigating ways of buying products at better
prices. He developed a low-cost buying method, in partnership with
our suppliers, which we still use today. Buying products at better
prices has allowed Vitamin Cottage to always offer every day affordable
prices to you.
Education and customer service have always been cornerstones of
the Vitamin Cottage mission. We believe that in order for people
to achieve optimal health, you need to have access to the best health
and nutrition information available.
We also believe that you should be able to afford to buy the products
you need in order to take care of your own health. Therefore, selling
quality products at every day affordable prices is extremely important
to Vitamin Cottage.
In addition, every product we sell goes through a strict review
process to ensure it meets our quality standards. There are some
products we will not carry because they contain certain ingredients
that we think are of questionable quality or safety (please see
"What Products Vitamin Cottage Does
Not Carry").
Margaret passed away in 1997, but the business is still owned and
operated by her children and grandchildren. Over the years, Vitamin
Cottage has grown from a "Mom and Pop" business to a 32+ store chain
with over 1000 employees in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Texas.
Every year we add more stores which reflects our ability to continually
meet our customers' needs. We are excited about our new web site,
and hope to bring high quality products at every day affordable
prices to people all across the country. We invite you to experience
the Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage difference.
More About Us | 
