Foods For Living, an independent and employee-owned grocer in East Lansing, has closed. The decision to shutter the nearly 30-year-old storefront comes as a Trader Joe’s location opens nearby.
The employee-owned natural foods store began as a mom-and-pop operation founded by John and Wilma Snyder in 1997. The final iteration of Foods For Living had been in the same location along Grand River Avenue since 2001, occupying a 15,000 square-foot space to sell supplements and organic foods.
Kirk Marrison, a general manager at the store confirmed plans to liquidate assets and sell off its remaining stock. The store’s 20 employees all have shares of the store, and Marrison says they will split up the profits when the store closes after a final sale of its goods.
“We’ve been in decline for years now, and it’s just gotten to the point where it’s not going to make any money,” Marrison said ahead of the store's June closure.
Marrison, who had been working at the store since 1998, says he has fond memories of Foods For Living.
“In my time here, I’ve seen kids go to people that had no children, to their children growing up and moving away,” he said. “I’ve seen it all.”
Marrison says the store had been losing money since Whole Foods opened a location eight years ago less than half a mile away. Shortly afterwards, Amazon acquired Whole Foods, allowing customers to sync their digital and physical grocery orders, offering a more streamlined but less personal experience.
Marrison says in today’s grocery business landscape, the independent grocer cannot compete.
“Different competition came into this. National chains. You can easily see that there’s a pie here that is only so big.”