1910, My Great, Great Grandfather
It all started with my great, great, grandfather Benson (and his dog) who way back in 1910 started delivering tea, coffee, and groceries by horse and buggy in Scarborough, Ontario. All food was organic back then. With his hipster clothes he could be still delivering today. 110 years later I'm doing the same thing, but minus cool duds.
1918, The First Store
The same year my grandmother was born, my great grandfather opened his grocery store on Victoria Park Avenue, that's him beside his father and his dog. My grandmother would later work in his store bagging flour and nuts much like I would 70 years down the road. Note the hot wheels just below the Benson Grocery sign.
1920, My Grandmother, the Delivery Baby
The truck eventually replaced the horse and buggy. That's my grandmother as a baby at the wheel and her brother cranking the shaft. Labour laws sure were more relaxed back then. (Ironically, this was one of the few times that she was ever in the driver's seat as she never learned to drive.) My sister and I would later work together just like our grandmother and our great uncle.
1944, The Store, My Dad's Real Home
His Grandfather's store became a second home for my Dad. That's him riding his delivery tricycle in front of the store. My grandmother was a single mother and relied on her parents to help raise my father while she was working. (My parents' store would later become a second home to me as I would head to store after school to package the bulk foods.)
1977, My Dad's Store and Community
My Dad and his store were always involved with the community. Here he is with another store owner loading donations on a truck to be sent for hurricane survivors in the Caribbean. [NN supports local causes and people in need. Check them out >]
1980, My Mom Opens the Health Food Store
Women have time... WHAAATTT? Who knew? Yes, that was the headline in the local news when my mom (right) opened our first health food store in December of 1980. Both the headlines and the store have changed alot since then, but not my mom, of course. She looks the same.
1984, Official Carob Bar Tester
After school each day I would go the store where one of my tasks was to package the bulk foods. Those are pumpkin seeds on the counter in front of me. Check out the herb liquids on the right. It was also one of my tasks to ensure that the carob bars tasted just right. It was my birthday on that day, hence the balloons.
1996, National Nutrition Founded... Our First Print Catalogue
NN might not even exist had I not hurt my back in 1992 when I herniated a disc while jogging. When I was able to walk again (with the help of glucosamine and Naka Silicea Gel) I worked half days only in the store as I couldn't stay on my feet the whole day. That's when I got the idea of starting a mail order department for our store. That's the first catalogue that I made. Believe it or not, some prices haven't changed since then.
1997, Nutritional Consultant and Security Guard
Back in the early days I even patrolled security in the store. Here's a couple of my clippings from the local paper. Note that I already had the vitamin perp arrested before the police even arrived. What the reporter also left out was that I had chased him a block down the street in my Birkenstocks... and still collared him.
1998, Heath Food Industry Friends
Meeting health food movers and shakers has always been a fun part of National Nutrition. That's me on the left with Dr. Cory Holly who was at the time working with vitamin manufacturer, Sisu, but who now runs his own school of sports nutrition.
2000, First NN Website 1.0
In the days of Web 1.0, you could actually make your own website without being a professional. Our latest website is version four.
2002, Flyer Promotions
My Dad always taught me how important it is to offer customers good value as well as good service. Early in the 2000s, we began the first of our 2 For Deal, Bonus, and Buy 1 Get 1 regular promotions. These are so much fun for us for the NN marketing team to put together. It's like a big natural health party. [Check out our latest deals >]
2006, Education Articles Published (Now over 1200!)
Knowledge is health. Working with a team of six naturopathic doctors starting in 2006, we began publishing on the NN website what would eventually become a database of over 1,200 articles on nutritional supplements and natural health which now also includes nearly 300 recipes. Cook up a few... and send us the results. (Just kidding... sort of.) [Cook recipes now >]
2009, New Building, New City
Back in the early days NN was run by just me out of the basement of my parents' health food store, but in 2008 we purchased a new 9000 square foot building in Orillia, Ontario. We added another 4000 feet a few years later. [Check our google inside tour! (Or in person ;-) >]
2011, Strong Leadership
It takes strong leadership to run a company and serve customers well. Christine joined NN in 2011 and quickly climbed the leadership ladder to become our Chief Operating Officer. The health food industry is one of the few in the world where senior company leaders who are women outnumber the men.
2012, All in the Family... Again
My sister, Meredith, joined NN full time in 2012 after managing our parents' health food store (located in another city) for nearly 20 years. I don't know what I would do with out her these days.
2014, Voted Best Health Food Store in Canada
The Canadian Health Food Association voted us the best health food store in Canada in 2014. Hopefully you've known that all along. :-) (We also won in the best customer service category.)
2015, NN Events Program Expanded
While we've always hosted educational events, in 2015 we took them to a new level, bringing Canada's top natural health experts to the historic Orillia Opera House for our local customers. That's L-R Dr. Michael Murray, Dr. Zoltan Rona, Sam Graci, Joy McCarthy, and Karlene Karst.
[Watch an events video trailer here >]
2015, Youtube Channel First Broadcast
That same year we built our own video studio to produce educational videos for our customers. (Hosted at you-know-where.) Today our YouTube channel has almost 2,000,00 views and over 1,000 videos. Watch, learn, and get healthy... Naturally! [Check out our YouTube channel now >]
2016, NN Awards Founded
While NN's relationship with our customers is always our highest priority, we've also made many strong partnerships over the years with our suppliers. So, in 2016 we founded the National Nutrition Awards to honour the best in both products and people in the Canada's natural health community. Telling our friends about how much we appreciate them makes everyone feel wonderful and not to mention, healthy. Try it for yourself (and for someone else)! [Check out the NN awards]
2018, Launch of the New NN Website
It's been a labour of love; in 2018 the new NN website (version 4.0) was born. While the gestation was a little bit longer than the usual nine months, our new site was worth the wait. We hope you'll love shopping with your new NN. [Watch NN launch video >]