Nature’s Harvest Bought By Rollin’ Oats
The St. Pete Times is reporting that Rollin’ Oats Market of St. Petersburg have bought Tampa’s Nature’s Harvest Natural Foods Market. Nature’s Harvest had declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
The name will be changed to Rollin’ Oats. Sounds like a horse feed store, but maybe the quality and service will be better. I guess it couldn’t be worse. Nature’s Harvest used to be the only place in town for natural and organic groceries, but as soon as there was competition they went downhill:
From a peak of $6-million in annual business, Nature’s Harvest took a big hit with the arrival of Fresh Market and what’s now a Whole Foods Natural Market within 2 miles. Sales slumped to $3-million in 2007.
I used to shop there quite a bit, but after a while I got tired of bringing a package of fruit or vegetables home before finding out it had mold. Or watching 3 employees standing around while customers were waiting to check out. Or making a special trip just to find out half of the things that you needed were not available.
It’s sad to see a local business fail, but customer service is a necessity. Hopefully this new venture will be more successful.
