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"A Retail Success Story from Independence, Missouri"

Rainbow Natural Foods
Independence, Missouri
816-836-5757
Owners: Gil and Loretta Marshall
Business started: 1976

One of NOW's most loyal and likeable customers is Rainbow Natural Foods in Missouri. Loretta and her husband, Gil, first opened a small 850 sq. ft. store in 1976 in Loves Park, Illinois near Rockford. They had a growing interest in nutrition and decided that the time was right to open a health food store and help improve people's health. Two years later the family opened a second store in Independence, Missouri with the long-term goal of retiring in that area and running that store full-time. Great decision! In 1981 the Marshalls sold their Illinois store and moved to Missouri, where they eventually bought an 8 unit strip center in which their 2,400 sq. ft. store is also located.

The Marshalls have always tried to visit as many suppliers as possible in order to see the quality of the operations and to meet the people who run the companies they buy from. Years ago they visited Akins Distributors (now Tree) in Oklahoma, Shiloh Farms in Arkansas and Arrowhead Mills in Texas - in addition to a fledging brand in Villa Park called NOW Foods! More recently, they have visited Olympian Labs, Solaray, Celestial Seasonings and NOW Foods in an effort to develop closer ties with key vendors. For many years Loretta served on the NNFA Midwest (MAHO) board and was the President of this region for four years.

About 3-4 years ago, the store's top-selling brand became available at a local discounter and Loretta began to search for a new brand that would help the store compete while still backed with integrity. One of her friends on the MAHO board was Sue Moody of Sunflower Natural Foods in Indiana, who recommended NOW and the rest is, shall we say, history. Today, Rainbow carries over 700 NOW skus and regularly features a number of items as HALF PRICE SALE items. The store has special logo stickers that it puts on super specials that tell the customer what a great deal they are getting. Rainbow has been buying heavy on NOW's bigger discounts, as well as other supplier deals, and normally passes along the discounts it gets from suppliers to their customers.
 
Today, Rainbow is one of NOW's biggest backers, in part, because our values line up so closely. Loretta feels that one of the greatest advantages is the "rescue mission" that their store is on. Rainbow has very high ingredient standards and avoids products that contain ingredients such as Ephedra, Guarana, DHEA and even Melatonin. The store is a customer-friendly store aimed at uplifting customer's health, mood and spirit. It typically has Christian music in the background and customers often linger in the store, enjoying the shopping experience. 2003 is turning out to be a great year for the Marshalls, and NOW is happy to be a partner in their success!
 

Recent Awards & Achievements

While each of these awards is meaningful, NOW was also excited to learn that their products were ranked as the #1 best-sellers in seven categories, followed closely by seven additional categories where NOW ranked either 2nd or 3rd by SPINS. SPINS is the leading provider of quantifiable information on Natural Product Industry sales across retail channels, and on the consumer and market dynamics. Their data is considered to be the most accurate available, thus allowing those within the industry to understand and analyze consumer, retail and broad marketplace dynamics.

NOW is the #1 Selling Brand.pdf in these categories:

•    Glucosamine & Chondroitin
•    Miscellaneous Supplements (Red Yeast Rice, Alpha Lipoic Acid, MSM, Celadrin)
•    Sports Nutrition (Ribose, ZMA, Creatine, Protein, Milk Protein)
•    Amino Acids
•    Cartilage Products
•    5-HTP
•    Vitamin D (1,000 IU 180 Softgels)

NOW is the #2 brand in these categories:

•    Stevia
•    Vitamin E
•    CoQ10
•    Polyphenols
•    Essential Oils