MaMa Jean’s Natural Market was a 2010 honoree at Springfield Business Journal's 2010 Dynamic Dozen awards. Information was accurate at the time of the honor. Click here for information about this year's event.The recession may have some businesses down for the count, but MaMa Jean’s Natural Market isn’t one of them.
In fact, the eight-year-old Springfield-based health foods retailer is hale and hearty these days.
In February, MaMa Jean’s had its best sales day ever, said General Manager Kelly Norman.
“We did $37,800 in one day,” said Norman, daughter of co-owner Susie Farbin. Farbin noted that on an average day, MaMa Jean’s two stores bring in $26,500. There wasn’t any particular promotion going on that day to drive traffic, but Farbin said the expansion of the original store and additional product lines likely helped fuel the increase.
Growth, however, is nothing new for MaMa Jean’s, which was the No. 4 fastest-growing Dynamic Dozen honoree in 2009. The company posted $7.75 million in revenue in 2009, a 40 percent increase compared to the $5.2 million it achieved in 2008.
Norman attributes MaMa Jean’s success to customer service and its policy of selling everything at below suggested retail prices.
Norman’s no stranger to the health food business, having grown up amid it. Her grandmother owned Jean’s Healthway in Ava for 30 years.
Mama Jean’s, co-owned by Farbin and Diana Hicks, opened in 2002 at 1727 S. Campbell Ave., and the second store opened six years later at 1110 E. Republic Road in the Green Circle Shopping Center.
In 2009, Farbin and co-owner Diana Hicks expanded the original store by 4,000 square feet, adding grocery, deli and meeting space.
Norman said MaMa Jean’s supplement sales have increased, and “grocery has just skyrocketed.”
Produce is a major draw for both stores, and in spring, summer and fall, about half the produce is locally sourced.
Interest in healthy eating continues to grow, as does MaMa Jean’s customer base.
MaMa Jean’s Green Card rewards program is adding 10 to 50 new applicants each day, and MaMa Jean’s also has added customers through a relationship with James River Assembly of God.
In late 2008, James River decided to start a wellness program for its employees with the help of Ken and Diane Hood of Springfield-based Body Mechanix Athletics.
The Hoods said getting employees to exercise was good, but the program needed to address nutrition as well. James River held a lunch-and-learn, where people could bring brown bag lunches and learn about nutritious eating.
But when people arrived for the event, most of the brown bags they brought with them contained food that was far from healthy.
“People were coming in with fast-food sandwiches and big fries and all kinds of things,” said James River Chief Operating Officer Kert Parsley. “We thought, ‘Well, you know what, a lot of people don’t realize how to make a nutritious meal,’” he said.
“So we contacted MaMa Jean’s.”
For the next lunch-and-learn, Norman and a crew from MaMa Jean’s used James River’s commercial kitchen to prepare a nutritious lunch, labeling the ingredients and explaining how they were beneficial to the body.
James River now offers lunch-and-learn sessions with MaMa Jean’s six times a year, but the relationship between the church and MaMa Jean’s has expanded.
Prior to launching its Wilson Creek campus, the church called on members who were willing and able to fast and pray about the project, Parsley said.
The idea was to follow the biblical book of Daniel and engage in what is known as a Daniel fast, which Parsley said essentially eliminates meat, dairy, sugar and bread.
“It’s basically vegetables and fruits, and some whole grain,” he said.
The church approached several local stores about Daniel-fast approved items, but MaMa Jeans actually stepped up and offered to label all the Daniel-fast approved items on its shelves.
“They were so above and beyond willing to help us,” Parsley said.
The spiritual aspect of the fast was very beneficial, he said.
“Having people eat healthy, pretty close to a vegan diet for 21 days, made a lot of people really evaluate their lifestyle and their eating choices,” he said.[[In-content Ad]]
