Good News Natural Foods moves to Wilmington Avenue in Rehoboth Beach
After years on Rehoboth Avenue, Good News Natural Foods of Rehoboth Beach has moved to Wilmington Avenue, a move the store’s owners say will give the store fresh life.
Co-owner Richard Collins said the store’s lease on Rehoboth Avenue was expiring, and he and his partners viewed Wilmington Avenue’s second block, with the newly expanded Avenue Inn, as the next big commercial growth area of the city.
“The store has been in that location (Rehoboth Avenue) 40 years, and I thought it needed an upgrade,” Collins said.
Owners Richard and Marci Collins and Ray and Sharon Fields got involved with Good News 15 years ago.
“I had an almost 30-year career with Proctor & Gamble out of Baltimore, and I had taken early retirement,” Richard Collins said. “My wife comes home and says, ‘Sharon and I want to buy a health food store in Dover.’ I said, ‘And I want to buy a new Porsche.’”
The store focused on mostly organic health products, such as vitamins, food and cosmetics. Collins said it was a natural fit; Marci is a 20-year breast cancer survivor and together they committed to a healthy lifestyle. Gradually, the business expanded to locations in Milford and at 220 Rehoboth Ave., where they bought the former Rainbow Earth. Good News moved to Wilmington Avenue on July 4 weekend.
“We are a 90 percent-plus organic store. We buy local when we can, and we try to support local entrepreneurs that sell clean products. It’s not so much what we do carry, it’s what we don’t carry. We don’t carry growth hormones, trans fats, we don’t carry those type things,” he said. Collins said Good News also has a large selection of gluten-free products and does not sell products that contain genetically modified organisms or GMOs. Among the brands the store carries are Mega Food, Life Extension, Natural Factor and Bluebonnet.
While some customers still haven’t caught onto the move - Good News’ former neighbor has gone so far to post a sign saying the store moved to assure people the store didn’t close - Collins said walk-in traffic has been good at the new store with the locals having no trouble finding it.
“Our locals support us through the winter. Right now, we’re encouraged,” Collins said.
Good News Natural Foods, 37 Wilmington Ave., is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information, call 227-3177 or visit www.goodnewsnaturalfoods.com.
