An Autumn of Independents
Jan De Vries Healthcare Stranraer, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland Speaking with Store Manager, Sharon Boyd one day in August, was a lovely interlude spent in shared positivity. Vegetarian since her 20s (when she began working for JDV) and vegan for the past 5 years for the health benefits, if any woman can be said to try to live “The Good Life” it is Sharon, who started out in the health food business after training as a baker. When she began at the shop, JDV Stranraer was a homely, old-fashioned environment, where ingredients were still weighed into bags for its customers. Over a decade passed and after a brief period away at the start of the millennium, Sharon returned in 2006 in her current position. She still bakes her own organic bread, using organic flour and seeds, but currently the store doesn’t sell bread (whether as a result of pandemic panic buying, who’s to say?). Sharon, of course, would like to see this return, keeping everything free from preservatives. She doesn’t miss the 5am starts, however. What Sharon brings to her role, particularly when asked to recommend wholefoods and specific nutrients, is a vibrant blend of extensive experiential knowledge and – that je ne sais quoi quality – passion. Stranraer is a relatively small town and the store was doing “pretty well” before Covid. They have their loyal regulars and the late Jan De Vries was their boss, coming to site to run clinics occasionally. Customers, Sharon said, talk: a health food store is a community place where people come with trust and open minds and hearts. And Sharon and her team certainly give honest advice, of their hearts themselves, in return.
Now, the other side of the long, dark tunnel of viral unknowns, supplements are still proving very popular. The pandemic has certainly opened people’s eyes to the importance of health and wellbeing – a trend which has seen an upsurge in organic product sales and whole foods in general. Locally produced honey and soaps are also doing well. This shift in mindset, Sharon believes, signifies a greater appreciation of life. No longer do many claim they have “no time” to make meals from scratch: covid turned us all into cooks. Furthermore, by consuming unadulterated food, there is a sense of communing with the world at large, of appreciating each day. When the first lockdown happened, Sharon was furloughed. Time was something she had plenty of. So, from lightly gardening and sporadically growing her own vegetables (and echinacea), she threw herself into the GYO way of things with gusto. Blessed with nature all around her, the furlough period – despite its cause and occurrence – was perhaps just the rest Sharon needed. Being furloughed, of course, meant that Sharon didn’t experience first-hand the panic buying period of flour and yeast (and, yes, loo roll). Nonetheless, she knew that it was critical that the store remain open through the madness. She was euphoric her first day back.
The second lockdown came after a disappointing Christmas period and fallen New Year’s figures, despite the continued upsurge in vitamin D, antioxidants, and immune support supplements. Even now, business is not what it once was, despite JDV being very good at maintaining interest on social media platforms and by offering deals. The key is to keep people stepping through the front door – a difficult thing to do with the lingering fear among those over a certain age. So it is that the JDV Stranraer staff are more than happy to offer further information, helpful advice, and a smattering of kindness these days (not that they didn’t before!). Together with Sharon, there is Laura at hand on the helpline, ever ready to proffer advice. Trained in A. Vogel herbal tinctures, Laura assists many menopausal women in this way. Wanting in the future to create recipe cards offering simple and healthy options using a variety of products from in-store, as well as potentially running workshops, Sharon admits the store is doing more online business these days, with the normal quota of footfall changed direction, seeking the internet’s ease (and protection). Cities in particular have suffered this decrease. Speaking later with Regional Operations Manager, Anthony Lavin, Just Natural Health & Beauty learned that it was apparently necessary to close JDV’s store in the West End of Edinburgh. Yet, it was one of only two casualties from eleven in total previously for the family-run company. As our interview came to a close, Sharon admitted the journey back to the ”new normal” (or “almost normal” in her terminology) has been one of gradual realisation: they’re going to be okay. People seem to be making more decisions for themselves, seeking an alternative route, seeking better health. It is the place of JDV Stranraer and similar stores to offer a better range of products and food for that purpose, so that better health leads to a better planet for all. As for that garden out the back… Perhaps that tiny walled garden might serve for a “wee tea tasting” at some point not too far away on the horizon, she mused.
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