In the third part of our roundtable series from 2025, we’re sharing insights from retailers about the approaches that have been the most effective in fostering motivation, engagement, and resilience among their employees—especially during periods of rapid change and economic uncertainty.

In most ways, Wellness Market in Windsor, ON is very much like a traditional health food store, offering vitamins, supplements, and some dry grocery items. However, over the eight years she’s owned her business, Kaila Seguin has shown a propensity for doing things that will give her store a little inspirational kick in the pants and offer something new to her customer base.

A couple years ago, with the 50^th anniversary of his natural health food store on the horizon, Dellard Labrosse was starting to feel the weight of the five decades he had spent building and maintaining his business. But he’s not just the founder of Georgian Bay Whole Foods in Parry Sound, ON—Dellard also operated a natural food warehouse and ran a delivery service that supplied dozens of health food stores over Central Ontario.

At the 2025 CHFA NOW show, retailers were encouraged to participate and share their experiences in an idea exchange during a retailer roundtable. Attending retailers were split into five groups and each group was asked a question about the following pressing issues impacting the natural health retail industry: navigating tariffs and supply chain challenges, enhancing customer experience to drive sales, building and motivating high-performing teams, creating collaborative partnerships to boost growth, and innovating and adapting in a changing market.

On a warm sunny morning in late September, the newly designed Vita Health Fresh Market in Osborne Village welcomed customers with a week-long celebration. Shoppers enjoyed deals, demos, and events held to celebrate the location’s renovation. It’s welcome timing for the Vita Health’s marketing manager, Kelly Lyons, who notes that the store’s makeover mirrors the area’s transformation.

 The whimsical dreams of a child are often fleeting, innocent thoughts that eventually fade—but that wasn’t the case for Kim. The impact of visiting Westmount stayed with her. In 2006, after various other pursuits, Kim landed where she was likely always meant to be: as the founder of her own health food store.

Over the years, Montreal has been the source of many interesting store features in CNHR. Its early health food stores and the pioneers who opened them have a deep and rich history in the city.

 During a recent visit to “the City of Saints,” CNHR conducted one of its classic “pop-in” tours, getting out on the streets and visiting a few stores and a head office location.

 In this first part of the retailer roundtable series from 2025, we will share insights on how retailers are navigating the ongoing tariff fluctuations and challenges in the supply chain. With ongoing uncertainty surrounding the border and tariffs with the US, retailers are choosing to do what they can to provide customers with clarity and choice.

Nicole Rumley had wanted to move her health food store for a long time, but she could not find the right spot.

 Until the day she found the right spot.

Last year, when Vicky Hachey decided to launch her own podcast Talk to Vicky, RHN: A Total Approach to Wellness, she saw it as the next logical step in her continuing journey in a career that spans almost three decades.

This is a big anniversary year for Lifestyle Markets in Victoria, BC. It was 30 years ago—in 1995—when Lifestyle Markets first opened on Victoria’s Douglas Street with the goal to offer natural and organic produce and groceries, supplements, vitamins, and bodycare products.

Following a successful debut at CHFA NOW Vancouver 2024, the Retailer Roundtable—hosted by Bruce W. Cole, editor and founder of CNHR—returned to this year’s show and was met with an overwhelming response from retailers.

After a lengthy career in leading and managing long-term care and retirement residences in Ontario, Steven Golden made his initial venture into the natural health retailing industry in 2022, when he purchased L’Amie de la santé in Hawkesbury, Ontario.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is being integrated into almost every industry, from healthcare to finance. Natural health retailers, take note: it might seem intimidating, but AI presents a huge opportunity for small businesses to succeed. Here’s how you can use AI to grow without needing more resources (yes, really!).

For any reader with aspirations of someday owning their own health food store, or for those of you who are starting to think about a succession plan, you might be interested in learning about this Quebec store that planned and then executed a perfect transition.