For more than 50 years, health food stores have thrived by offering something big-box stores can’t replicate: trusted advice, specialty selection, and personal relationships built over generations.

CHFA NOW Toronto 2026 is just weeks away! This exciting and inspiring event brings together the best brands, brokers, distributors, and retailers in the natural, organic, and wellness (NOW) industry. It is also a busy and lively occasion, so you may want to have clear goals and a plan of action so that you don’t miss out on key opportunities. Here are 10 tips from industry experts for a successful tradeshow experience:

Research is catching up to what many independent retailers have known for years: strong social ties are consistently associated with better health and a longer life. Loneliness and social isolation are increasingly recognized as major public health concerns. But the deeper point is not simply that isolation is harmful; it is also that belonging is protective.

There is something electric in the moment you open your store in the morning. Those familiar faces waiting at the door are often your best customers. You may know their names, families, and health goals, but these relationships go deeper than a typical transaction and can have a lasting impact on your business.

In the early 1980s, I worked at London Drugs. There I got intensive training in merchandising. I also got the best management advice.

Led by Ellen Wheeler, vice president of partnerships for Alive Publishing Group and publisher of CNHR, this column highlights outstanding female leaders and innovators in our natural health community.

In this issue, Ellen converses with Beth Potter, marketing manager, Community Natural Foods & Natural Foods.

For natural health retailers, corporate wellness programs can offer a valuable pathway to expand their impact beyond the store. By educating employees of nearby companies on key wellness strategies and tools, you can make their wellness goals a reality.

I recently began working as a stock clerk and cashier in a small, independent natural products store in Hazelton, BC, owned by my friend Rhonda. I’ve noticed several similarities and differences between retailing today and 50 years ago, when I first served customers at a store I co-owned in North Vancouver.

We spend a lot of time talking about protein, fibre, magnesium, omega-3s, and vitamin D—real nutrients that matter, and nutrients that can absolutely move the needle. But there is another daily human need that modern life keeps stripping away, one that may be just as foundational to long-term health and flourishing as anything we put on our plate.

In my last article, I looked at how businesses can consciously build their communities by keeping their goals and values central throughout the hiring, training, rewarding, and modelling processes.

 Now, I ask: how can retailers extend that same sense of community to the brands on their shelves and the brokers and suppliers who help put them there?

Led by Ellen Wheeler, vice president of partnerships for Alive Publishing Group and publisher of CNHR, this column highlights outstanding female leaders and innovators in our natural health community.

In this issue, Ellen introduces you to Stacey Kravitz, president at UNFI Canada.

Everywhere I looked, there were smiling faces, excited conversations, and the easy embraces of old friends. It could’ve been a scene out of a wedding or a family reunion—instead it was one from the opening of Community Natural Foods’ new Seton, Calgary store.

There is a familiar scene emerging on the natural health shop floor these days: customers are getting genuinely excited about dietary fibre. First of all, I am thrilled that there is a notable increase in people talking about fibre again. But, as with anything in our industry, nuance and mentorship are required to help customers bridge the gap between their current intake and the recommended daily targets. This is where we come in.

Continual improvement is essential for sustaining consistent business growth. Yet in focusing on the big picture, we often overlook the small things that matter the most, especially for us, the natural health retailers. Small, consistent steps applied across key retail practices add up to major progress.

“In Her Own Words” is a column that highlights outstanding female leaders and innovators in our natural health community.

Led by Ellen Wheeler, vice president of partnerships for Alive Publishing Group and publisher of CNHR, the column shines a light on industry women making a real impact.