Oryanna Supersizes

Aug. 15, 2007

Barbara Gerovac, who was examining a package of organic chicken, took a moment to take in the newly expanded Oryana Natural Foods Market that boasts aisle after aisle of organic produce and products.
“It looks like a grocery store!” she said.
With 9,000 square-feet of retail space, an airy café, and a long bank of cash registers, Traverse City’s biggest and only natural foods store does indeed resemble an Oleson’s or Tom’s Food Store.
“I love how open it is!” said customer Lorie Kinney.
Oryana will host a three-day grand opening celebration to mark the completion of its year-long expansion project.
General Manager Bob Struthers invites the public to participate in festivities from Thursday, August 16, through Saturday, August 18.
The grand opening celebration will include a Thursday morning breakfast at the café, a Saturday afternoon outdoor barbeque, a Saturday evening poetry reading that will include the winner of the Oryana poetry contest, and live local music throughout the entire celebration.
Farmers and other local food companies will offer samples and showcase their products throughout the store. A steady stream of kid’s activities will take place in the children and family tent.
Folks can also tour the store to learn about green building practices and materials used in the expansion. In keeping with Oryana’s mission to support “ecologically sound” production practices, the ren-ovation applied “green-building” principles of using recycled and energy-efficient materials whenever possible.
A complete schedule of events and tours is available at www.oryana.coop.
The expansion has been long in the making and triggered by solid sales and membership growth over the past decade.
This year, Oryana expects sales of $6 million in 2007. The store has a membership base of about 4,000, but you don’t have to be a member to shop there, Struthers said.
Founded in 1973, Oryana Natural Foods Market is a cooperatively-owned retail store dedicated to providing high-quality food produced in ecologically sound ways and fair value to everyone in the Traverse City area.
Oryana is located on Tenth Street at Lake Avenue. For more information, call 231-947-0191, visit www.oryana.coop or email info@oryana.coop.