- November 22, 2024
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In 1989, Ormond Beach resident Mitch Booth found a steel etching in a thrift store. Depicting an archetype of a Grecian woman, the etching had a single word written below the image.
Love.
Not long after, when Booth and his late wife were trying to come up with a name for their new business, that etching provided the needed inspiration.
“My wife and I both looked at it, and we’ve been struggling with the name, and we said, ‘That’s it,’” Booth recalled.
The Booths opened Love Whole Foods in 1991, leasing the space in the Trails Shopping Center where Talbots is now located. After a decade there, Love Whole Foods outgrew the space, and the Booths designed and constructed the building the store currently calls home at 275 Williamson Blvd.
And this upcoming Valentine's Day, Love Whole Foods will celebrate 30 years of serving the Ormond Beach community. It's a milestone that Booth said they would never have reached without their loyal customers.
“The reason that we’re here is real simple — our customers allow us to open the doors everyday," Booth said.
When the Booths were looking for a location to open up shop, they traveled all over the state. And yet, they ended up right where they started.
“We just felt the community here was unique, that in all the places that we visited, we didn’t see anything that made us feel as good as Ormond Beach," Booth said.
To show appreciation, after every anniversary Love Whole Foods hosts a week-long "Local Love Week," and this year is no exception. From Feb. 15-21, the store is inviting the community to stop by its stores (the second location is in Port Orange) for free samples, raffles, in-store specials and other goodies.
This year, Booth said he's also wanting to thank his 67 employees, who have not only been dedicated to their job, but have been diligent in making sure their stores stay clean and follow the CDC guidelines to keep the community safe.
Over the years, Love Whole Foods has faced challenges.
Though in the beginning, there wasn't a lot of competition in this market, things have changed over the years as people became more aware of what ingredients were in their foods and supplements. Booth said they were inspired by the "whole foods" concept by the former Bread and Circus natural food chain, which impacted their lives greatly due to his wife's health and the change they saw when they upgraded their diet. Bread and Circus later adopted its parent company's name, Whole Foods Markets.
As more health food stores and big box stores began carrying organic produce, Booth stayed honed in on his mission, one that hasn't changed from the start: Remaining faithful to the quality of the products his stores carry, whether that be their supplements, organic or local produce.
It's a mission that, so far, has been successful.
“As a couple, we invested everything we had, but we bet on our community, and it was a good bet," Booth said.
