Nature's Harvest, a 23-year-old fixture in Tampa's organic and natural foods community, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection a few weeks ago. The south Tampa store was suffering under a conflict with the bank that holds its mortgage and, according to President David Taylor, "the only way to go forward with that relationship was to use the judicial system."
Nature's Harvest will remain open, according to Taylor. He plans to use this as an opportunity to re-organize the store to better compete with big chains like Wild Oats/Whole Foods and the new Publix Greenwise market opening less than a mile away.
"We've always taken the position of bringing natural and organic foods to customers in an affordable way," says Taylor, who will be streamlining Nature's Harvest's inventory and decrease the wide breadth of products. His goal is to focus on commodities, "the kinds of products people use every day," and offer those items at more competitive prices.
Taylor recognizes that Nature's Harvest's biggest asset is its interaction with the community, so the store will also try to emphasize its customer service and education programs. He wants customers to know that no matter what Nature's Harvest does, none of the important things will be changing.
"These days in Tampa, it's tough," explains Taylor. "Sometimes you have to change your business model or close."
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 6, 2007.