Razzberry’s Celebrates A Birthday, A Move, An Old Friend
Story by Kathleen McFadden
This month marks Razzberry’s 17th birthday, and while a big birthday is cause enough for celebration, the natural market has more to commemorate this week than an anniversary. Owner Buzz Beeson and store manager Dee Dee Grant are also celebrating a move and a homecoming of sorts.
On Tuesday, May 23, Razzberry’s opened its doors at its new location in the Winklers Creek Crossing shopping center behind Boone Mall where once again, two years after the businesses were forced to move from the Log Village shopping center, Razzberry’s and Log House Florist are located side by side.
The demolition of Log Village on Blowing Rock Road to make way for the construction of a Walgreens drug store displaced a number of local businesses, including the market and the florist. Log House Florist moved to Greenway Office Park; Razzberry’s moved to the Heritage Court shopping center on Highway 105.
Now that the two businesses are back together again, “it’s kind of like going home,” said Beeson, “like coming full circle.”
Beeson was a health food shopper and had worked for a time at a now-closed local health food store when he decided to open his own market in 1989. Razzberry’s began at Log Village, and its neighbor for 15 years was Log House Florist. The rustic shopping center on the edge of town was a good location, and the notice that Razzberry’s had to move to make way for Walgreens was not happy news.
“We would have stayed there until we retired,” said Grant, who has been with Razzberry’s for almost 16 years. “It was a real hit to us,” Beeson added. “You’re going along and think everything is fine, and then you get a piece of bad news and that sinking feeling. You have to start all over to reassemble the pieces.”
Finding a new location two years ago wasn’t easy. Retail space options were “very, very, very limited,” Beeson said. “Boone is very, very difficult and getting more difficult for small, locally owned businesses,” he continued. “When we were first in business, almost everything on Highway 321 was locally owned and that’s changed.”
Chain stores, corporations and franchises can pay higher rents than local businesses, Beeson pointed out, and the combination of limited retail space availability and the prices charged for that space are contributing to the demise of small business in Boone.
He explained that small, locally owned firms are beneficial because they create a more eclectic business culture than a town of chain stores and provide more personalized service.
“We’re on a first-name basis with the people who shop here,” Grant said, and she related a story about a customer who banged on the door after closing time to buy dog food. Grant let her in. That’s not the kind of customer service people can expect at chain stores.
But that kind of service may become just a memory if people don’t patronize the stores that provide it.
“If people don’t shop at independent stores,” Grant said, “this is a dinosaur.”
Beeson continued, “Shoppers will determine if Boone is a place for locally owned businesses or a corporate town. It’s a decision that each person makes to determine the town’s future.”
Both Beeson and Grant are looking forward to welcoming customers to Razzberry’s new location where they can shop for specialty groceries, organic produce, health supplements, beauty supplies, pet needs, organic wines and products to treat the body, mind and soul. Contact Razzberry’s at 828-265-2700
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