Health Matters turns 20: Kim Umphrey’s tenacious legacy
By Bruce W. Cole
As a young child, Kim Umphrey would visit the local health food store in her hometown of Edmonton with her grandfather.
“I was probably four or five…it’s among my earliest memories,” she says about her trips to Westmount Health Food store. “I would walk down the aisles, smelling the herbs. Some of them were funny looking, some were weirdly shaped—many were in bins and I could touch them. I always wondered what they were used for. The experience really caught my imagination, I was enthralled with seeing all those dried plants.”
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.
This February marks 20 years since Kim opened Health Matters Store in Edmonton. It may have taken her a few years to get here, but arrive she did.
A new era of natural health
After leaving high school, Kim worked in other industries before she found her “calling,” an awakening which was sparked when she attended a seminar led by health food expert and author, Udo Erasmus.
“Immediately after the seminar, I went home and started throwing out chemical products and junk food from our cupboards. I started making things from scratch and being much more aware, as a mother with small children, of the impact of what we were putting into our bodies,” recalls Kim.
Diving deeper into the world of natural health, she began teaching at Homegrown Foods in nearby Stony Plain. “I was just self-educated at that point, but I held classes on topics like transitioning to healthier diets and lifestyle,” she says.
Kim knew that to advance further in the field, she had to formalize her education—but with three small kids at home, day school was out of the question. Instead, she enrolled in an online program at the Edison Institute of Nutrition.
Launching her own ventures
By her second year of schooling, Kim was working at a local fitness gym as a health coach and had established her first business, Orangetree Nutrition. To get more experience and exposure, she also worked for another health food store in St. Albert while finishing her two-year Bachelor of Applied Science in Nutrition, which she earned in 2005.
Armed with her hard-earned designation, Kim launched herself into a new chapter: searching for a health food store to buy. “I wanted to create a more impactful shopping experience for customers, and I wanted a place to showcase my own ideas,” she explains.
Kim eventually purchased a Health 4 U store—one of several owned by the late Stuart Hellis and his wife Grace.
“I was wonderfully blessed to have the two existing staff stay on for quite a while,” she says. “Their general knowledge and familiarity with the customers really assisted in the transition. They really made it easy for me to get to know everyone.”
With staffing more or less under control, other challenges, like budgeting, took centre stage.
“We had low sales at the beginning,” recalls Kim. “I remember in the first week after getting my keys, we had two $300 orders come in, and we only had $800 in our bank account.”
These monetary challenges didn’t just plague Kim for the first two weeks, they were an aspect of the business she had to contend with for years to come.
“I didn’t take a salary for the first five years,” says Kim. “It was very tight, but I made it work because we were investing in inventory to generate more sales.”
At the same time, Kim was also working on honing skills in areas she was unfamiliar with, like business acumen and customer preferences. “I was forced to become an accountant from day one. I really started at ground zero,” she says. “And what sold well in the St. Albert store I worked at wasn’t selling at my new store, so I had to figure out what product mix would work for my customers. The stores were only 15 minutes apart, but it was like night and day.”
One thing she did figure out from day one, however, was the importance of one-on-one time with her patrons. “I learned very early on that to win over my customers and have them accept me as the new owner, it was all about giving exceptional service and building relationships.”
A welcome bonus: instant HFN membership
Something that happened at the very beginning of Kim’s ownership can best be described as a blessing: instant membership into the Health First Network (HFN). “The store I bought was an existing HFN member at that time, so I was grandfathered in as a member,” she explains about assimilating into the group of independent Canadian natural health and wellness retailers.
“You go to your first annual general meeting, and you suddenly have a million friends, right out of the gate,” says Kim about the community’s 112 members that represent 155 stores.
“You have amazing conversations with others about common challenges and issues, and you discuss solutions. You have all these amazing mentors. It’s lonely when you’re on your own, you think you’re the only one with issues and you feel like you’re facing all the giants alone but with HFN, you’re not. With that group you feel community, not competitiveness.”
Beyond camaraderie, Kim says the group has opened many doors for her. “It’s given me an opportunity to travel across Canada to see my HFN friends and visit their stores. Your circle of friends gets bigger and bigger as your attend events like CHFA tradeshows and HFN annual general meetings. It’s funny, because it’s like a very exclusive club, but at the same time, it’s very inclusive. It’s your Health First family.”
Having the opportunity to stock and sell HFN’s own line of products also offers a big advantage. “You can’t buy these products at Shoppers Drug Mart or on Amazon, so your customers become repeat clients and you establish brand loyalty,” Kim explains. “The HFN private label gives you an edge over other stores because it’s something customers can’t get elsewhere.
“HFN also provides a flyer, which I wouldn’t be able to produce on my own. And we get great buying power with our preferred vendors as part of this network,” she says.
Kim further capitalized on her professional development by joining the organization’s board of directors. “I served on the board for six years. It was a real growth opportunity for me and allowed me to see the national picture. It helps pull you out of your store and show you what’s best for everyone across Canada, supplying you with big CEO optics that you don’t get when you’re on your own.
“The board is always looking at the future and HFN has really evolved into its own entity that the members have created out of wants and needs,” she says.
Building on success
Three years after buying her store, Kim’s lease was up. She wanted to stay in the same strip mall—which she really liked—but she also had a mind to expand and add a major service: a natural health clinic. So when she was presented with the chance to jump from 800 sq. ft. to 1,600 sq. ft., she took it.
“I was always referring my customers to local massage clinics and other professionals in the area,” Kim says of her decision to introduce the service. “I knew I could find really good practitioners to work with me and my vision, who would embody the values that I believe would help my customers reach their wellness goals.”
Today, the store’s clinic is comprised of three rooms with resources that include acupuncture, live blood analysis, traditional Chinese medicine, ionic foot detox, massage therapy, and naturopathy.
“The practitioners have really complemented the supplements side of the store,” says Kim. “We love to refer our customers to our practitioners, and they in turn refer their customers to our knowledgeable team to handle any supplement choices.”
When asked if she thinks practitioners are the answer for all stores, Kim is quick to acknowledge the amount of work it takes to set up and manage each independent entrepreneur. “If you’re going to do it, try to set up terms so that they succeed. I have always tried to make their practice financially rewarding. I’ve been a fair partner because I’ve also been on the side of relying solely on commission, so I always try to create a win-win scenario,” she says. “Ask yourself, do you have the space to do it? If so, there are benefits, but make it’s a good fit for you and go in with your eyes wide open.”
Building loyalty from within
As a sole owner, Kim has to have a pulse on everything in the store, including navigating her customers, whose preferences she describes as currents that guide her next moves. Most of her focus these days is on planning future ideas, developing and growing the team, and increasing community outreach.
But she doesn’t do it alone. Kim has a team of trusted employees that work alongside her.
“Lisa Goerz is my right arm and Paul Moffat is my left arm,” she says. “Lisa is a very detail-oriented person and gets the job done, while Paul is the big picture guy, who brings decades of experience, a unique set of skills, and a passion that is unmatched in helping people find the right solutions to their needs. He also works as the store’s brand ambassador.
“It’s easier to pivot when you have key people putting the wind under your wings, who can chart out goals and track successes. Leadership presents its challenges, but we are always failing forward. We are always ebbing and flowing and adapting to change.”
Kim describes her team as small but mighty. “We work well together, and everyone makes the customer service experience happen from beginning to end. My team is a collage of talent and gifts, which contributes to the dynamic and unique character of the store. Our overall goal is to foster a corporate culture where everybody is esteemed.”
Looking ahead
After 20 years as an owner, Kim is asked about the future of traditional health food stores: where does she see natural health retailing headed.
Taking a few seconds to ponder her answer, she says, “My dream would be to overcome the regulation barriers of health products as pharmaceuticals. I also want to be a pillar for community by educating the public on the importance of nutritional products and choosing healthy. There will always be a place for health food stores because our clients’ health is our number one priority. We are on the front lines of educating the public about the benefits of a holistic lifestyle, and we do that by supplying quality products that offer value, are truly beneficial, and that can’t be replaced by online and big-box stores.
“We have to remember it’s not always about the sale; it’s about the relationships. Our internal and external customers—which include our reps, vendors, practitioners, and team—contribute to the tensile strength of the company and the industry as a whole. It’s awesome to look at where we were and how far we have come.”