It’s July, and Rising Tide is Celebrating Shopping Local!
It’s Independent Retailer Month, the perfect time for us to say what it means to us to be an independent business, planting roots in this community for 43 years. We love being your independent health food store! When Jerry first opened our current location, it was only made possible by small but vital investments from some of his then customers (many of whom are still customers today!). Now, more than four decades later, Rising Tide is still guided by the evolving needs of the health conscious in this community in an invaluable give-and-take of wellness and product knowledge. And we wouldn’t have it any other way.
One of the best parts of being an independent retailer like Rising Tide is our ability to feature and promote other local businesses that share our values. We’ve been doing this for years in our monthly newsletters under the heading “Local Flavor”. Sometimes we shine a spotlight on a hyper-local business, like Moxie Cream or Steiner’s Coffee Cake, both out of Sea Cliff. Sometimes we cast the net a bit wider to feature truly special businesses elsewhere on Long island (this month’s feature on the triple fermented sourdough bread from Montauk’s Night Owl Baker is one such biz), or further afield in the Tri-state area or Upstate New York (Gilbertie’s Herbs out of Westport, Connecticut comes to mind, as does the Piggery Farm & Butcher in Ithaca, New York). It gives us great pleasure to introduce our customers to the local companies we love the most, with the hopes of helping those businesses to thrive in a world of Big Food and big box stores. As a small business ourselves, this is a role we are more than happy to play.
Our Co-Op Helps Us Help You
Being small doesn’t mean being alone…in 2009 we joined the Independent Natural Food Retailers Association (INFRA), a cooperative comprised of 240 likeminded members in 380 locations around the country. This relationship has literally transformed our business, allowing us to provide independent service and values with big store pricing. We are thrilled to be able to pass on all the benefits of being an INFRA member to our customers, who make everything possible.
Lastly, being a local business in this community allows us to be part of a growing number of small businesses like us, servicing the one-of-a-kind residents of Long Island’s North Shore. We are beyond happy to support (and be supported by) wonderful small businesses like Heritage Bakers, ClayNation, Gritty Buddha, Royal Native, and Strong Island Styles Barber Shop (to name just a few!), all located within minutes of Rising Tide.
Our communities—and our lives—are made richer by value-driven small businesses. Support them by thinking, acting, and shopping locally this July!