Day 4: Kimberton Whole Foods in Douglasville, Pennsylvania

At the end of a beautiful 50 mile ride along the Schuylkill River Trail from Philadelphia, I found myself at Kimberton Whole Foods in Douglasville, Pennsylvania. I was very excited to see Kimberton as I've been looking up to the owner, Terry Brett, for years. After meeting and getting to know Terry through numerous INFRA events, I've come to regard him as something of the perfect combination between a sharp businessman and a caring, empathetic, and passionate human being. INFRA stores are so often a palpable expression of the owner and I was excited to see what Terry in health food store form would be like!

Kimberton Whole Foods is a family-owned and operated chain of five stores in the central Pennsylvania area (the other four being located in Kimberton/Pheonixville, Downington, Malvern, Ottsville, and soon to be Collegeville too). Terry opened the original farm store in Chester County where he and Pat Brett specialized in organic yogurt made on-site, which is still offered at all of their locations and beyond as Seven Stars Dairy. Since 1986, they have expanded again and again as they adhered to strict ethical standards and worked closely with both the farmers and the communities they serviced. Although the Douglasville location is not their flagship store, I was WAY more than satisfied with my shopping experience there.

The most prevalent part of the Douglasville location, at least for me, was the atmosphere and decor of the store. Everything was designed and chosen in a way that both embued the place with that "old country store" feel, but in a very neat, clean, and orderly fashion. I was able to roam the store freely with plenty of space to move around; unlike the ubiquitous small-town shop that often feels cluttered or maze-like. Yet, I still felt like I was in an old-fashioned, hand-crafted store. That, along with the incredibly friendly and gentle staff, made me want to shop there all day. And their beautiful displays made me want to just admire the place.

But let's not forget about what I was there for; the food! Kimberton strikes the perfect line in which they have a selection diverse enough to make this a one-stop shopping experience, but maintain rigid enough product standards to make it so you don't have to dig into the ingredients listings. If it's in this store; it's sure to be clean. And while they carry many national brands and larger name staples, Kimberton goes out of their way to support smaller companies and especially local producers. Especially when it comes to their organic dairy products!

Another area where Kimberton knocks it out of the park was their grab-and-go prepared foods. While the Douglasville location does not have the full cafe experience that their Malverne and Kimberton/Pheonixville locations do, the same stellar options exist in ready-to-go packaged formats. I was a bit jealous of the meat eaters out there as the tuna roll and curried chicken salads looked fabulous, but they rounded out their own preparations with a tremendous assortment of raw/living food choices from the company Awesome Foods. Traveling on a bicycle, one has to be careful how much weight they are carrying, but if the sky was the limit, I could have easily hauled off with two kinds of kale salad, a black bean burrito, raw pizza, sprouted hummus, broccoli bites, and the list goes on and on....

Kimberton isn't just all food, though. In fact, the selection of vitamins, supplements, and other wellness items was stellar both in the quality of brands and the sheer volume of choices. Where I could really see them shine was in the lifestyle and household products. I don't think I've ever seen a store put so much care into what they are carrying in this department, let alone in it's presentation. Like I said before, they do such a good job decorating the shelves with these products that I just wanted to hang out there. Which, when I think about it, is the kind of feeling you'd want to get from the products you fill up your own home with, no?

Clearly, this is a real gem of a store for people who go beyond just eating natural foods and are living an entirely conscious lifestyle, mindful of what's in everything they buy and where it's coming from. In my experience, that's Terry Brett in a nutshell. If INFRA stores really are a reflection of the people who own them, the community must be very thankful to have the entire Brett family as a part of it. If I lived near any of these stores, I'm sure I wouldn't shop anywhere else!