Business & Tech
The Little Natural Foods Store That Could
The Good Seed has helped to keep Seekonk friends and neighbors healthy for the past 22 years.
“We have the nicest customers,” says Christine Mulhall.
Mulhall, along with Susan Kinnel and Ruth Hardman, has owned natural food market for 22 years, well before the current natural foods revolution.
The three grads were friends and, according to Mulhall, “young, hippie chick mothers” in 1989. They all were home schooling their children, sharing resources and had an affinity for healthy eating. When their children got a little older their common interests lead them to talk about opening a store.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
“I had been eating natural foods since I was in my twenties and wanted to get back into the work force,” says Mulhall. “When we decided to do it, every door opened to us.
The Good Seed stocks natural foods including gluten-free and dairy free items, nuts, bulk herbs and spices, grains, frozen foods, teas, local honey, breads, eggs, milk, apples and carrots for juicing, and more. They also boast a large section of supplements and remedies, as well as personal care products.
Interested in local real estate?Subscribe to Patch's new newsletter to be the first to know about open houses, new listings and more.
The folks at the store are known for their friendliness and willingness to educate and customers about health and healing. They have a reference library and a copy machine for people wanting to take materials home with them about a particular supplement or ailment. Their website is also linked to a larger national database with a search engine for natural health and healing. All three of the owners have taken ongoing courses in natural health and healing as well.
Mulhall says one of the biggest reasons new customers come in is to find relief from side effects of medications.
“We get a lot of people suffering with digestive issues for years,” says Mulhall. “They finally get turned on to the right diet and it turns their life around in the matter of a few weeks.”
The good news, according to Mulhall, is how much better educated the customers are now about health than they were when the store first opened. “They come in knowing what they’re looking for. There’s less guidance from us. We’re not a fad anymore. We’re part of mainstream America.”
