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LETTERS / Earth Fare Closing Down

To whom it may concern,

I spent two hours just walking around Earth Fare yesterday in the mountains of Boone, N.C., and just listening to all of the many voices, from the customers to the employees, talk about the closing of their beloved Health Food Store. They had just gotten word at 8 a.m. that morning that the doors would be closing, and not just to their store alone, but all Earth Fare stores everywhere. 

There was a sense of shock, loss, and deep sadness in the atmosphere. It reminded me of a movie in a way. You may have seen it, “You’ve Got Mail,” when the city of New York experienced the closing of a very tiny but lovely little family-owned bookstore called “The Shop Around the Corner.” It was special. It meant something to a whole lot of people, as does our Earth Fare that we have all come to love and appreciate. This isn’t just a grocery store. It is a family of people feeling connected to each other, learning to eat well, and feed their families well, and feel alive. It meant something and “It is personal!”

When you walk into a store, you feel a sense of excitement in the air. The friendly people, the friendly voices all coming together for a purpose, a purposeful mindset of taking charge of their health in a very healing environment that we all need to carry us through on this journey. 

YOU, Earth Fare, were the beginning of the beginnings of this noble thing, this incredible thing, that opened our eyes and gave us hope. You started something that we cannot just throw away without a fight. We need you to carry us through into the next generation, teaching us how to eat well, be well and live well. Our children and our grandchildren will take this incredible thing that you did and run with it. They need the chance and the opportunity. I know that I speak for literally thousands of people everywhere. WE NEED YOU. Please find a way to help keep the doors open. 

Sincerely,

Cheryl Wheeler
Boone, NC