Health Food Store Expands to Hilo

A Honoulu-based health food store chain is opening in Hilo this fall.

Down to Earth - which boasts it is "the only all-vegetarian food store in Hawaii" - will be located near Wal-Mart in the 5,500-square-foot space being vacated by Island Naturals Market, which is moving to the Hilo Shopping Center in September.

The new Down to Earth store will open in October or November and will offer about 10,000 different "organic and natural" products.

"This is a great location," CEO Mark Fergusson said of the Hilo site. "We were actually going to open a store in that exact spot 13 years ago, and are excited to have the opportunity to do it now. We were surprised that Island Naturals would actually relinquish an outstanding location in the highest-traffic shopping center on the Big Island. We couldn't turn it down when it was offered to us."

Russell Ruderman, owner of Island Naturals, told the Tribune-Herald in April that he decided to relocate after rejecting terms of a new five-year lease offered by the property's owner.

The Hilo Down to Earth store will add about 50 jobs to the company's payroll, Fergusson said. He said the company expects to fill all the positions locally.

Fergusson said the Hilo location will feature the new "look" of the company's recently remodeled flagship store on King Street in Honolulu, but he said the layout will be similar to that of Island Naturals.

"It's a very well-laid-out store," he said, adding that Down to Earth will emphasize a vegetarian deli, organic produce, expanded frozen foods section and products that can be bought in bulk.

Many of the store's items will be from local suppliers, Fergusson said. The company says it annually purchases about $2.5 million in products from 400 Hawaii vendors, including over 150 farmers and growers - some of whom are on the Big Island. In addition to Hilo, Fergusson said the company is considering other locations for expansion.

"Our expansion is a response to consumer demand," he said. "Customers from under-served parts of the state have been asking us to come to their neighborhoods for years. We're thrilled to be able to do that now, with initial focus on the Big Island."

Down to Earth is a privately owned company that was founded in 1977 in Wailuku, Maui. Down to Earth operates three stores on Oahu and one on Maui. For more information, visit http://www.downtoearth.org.