A Conversation With ... Phyliss Harper

The store's been here for so long that it is the original health food store in Springfield. It started in 1954. I was the second owner. I took it over in 1982, except that I sold it in 1996 for about three years, then I had to buy it back. We focus on supplements. We carry health foods, supplements, skin care products, lots of books for education, a lot of herbs. We carry pet products. We have four part-time employees besides me.

What are some of your most popular offerings?

That changes from year to year … . Supplements always stay good, cleanses always stay good, skin care stays good, things like that. When you talk about image - (people's) health determines their image. If they take care of their health, their image, not only the way their body feels, but the way their body acts … (it) kind of reflects their image.

Who are your customers?

We have a good array. We have people who come in, that their mothers brought them in when they were very little … . We have college age all the way up to the elderly. We have people that are 90 years old who still shop here. … I wish parents would teach their kids from early on the importance of health. We only get one chance at this. This is not a practice run, and if they would start them when they were little, kids don't think it's weird, because it's a way of life with them. Health is really a way of life … it's a lifestyle.

Do you recommend products to your customers?

We can't really recommend (them). If they tell us they have a problem, we can show them (things), (but recommending) would be prescribing, so we can't prescribe. But we can show them the books that have been written. We can tell them what people have told us they've used, and we can show them the things that are available. Because there are a lot of things that are available that there's no sense going to the doctor about - like colds and flu. They've proven that antibiotics don't really help with those. But there are a lot of herbs on the market and things like that that really do cut the duration of a cold. Or, you can build up your immune system in advance and possibly prevent it.

Is winter, and the cold and flu season, a particularly busy time for your business?

Yes, because people really start (thinking about colds and flu) in September, because they know winter's coming, so you start building your immune system in advance. It's like putting money in the bank so that when you need it, it's there.

How are your skin care products different from others on the market?

They have more natural things in them. They don't have a lot of the chemicals in them, and some will have vitamin E and grapeseed extract … things like this that feed the skin, nourish the skin, rather than just covering up.

Do you have a lot of people come in looking for carb-free or low-carb products?

That was a fad, as far as I'm concerned. And yes, that just went wild, but they're finding out now that just watching your diet is a better way to (lose weight). You can read a label, and when you see something that's got 40 grams of carbs and two of proteins, you know that's way out of balance.

Does your store carry vegetarian products?

Yes. I'm a vegetarian. I've been a vegetarian for 36 years. We're one of the few stores in town that carry that much vegetarian product, I guess because I am a vegetarian. We have a lot of vegetarians. I don't use a lot of the canned products. I do my own - beans and lentils, and put things together and make casseroles and things like that. … I haven't had milk since 1954, because of all the hormones, and because we're the only mammal that drinks milk from another mammal even after we're grown.

Let's talk more about you - what do you like to do in your free time?

I love to cook. I love to bake. I'm taking up knitting, I love to knit. I'm always reading anything to do with health. It's just natural for me.

Tell me more about your family.

I have two grown children. They live in different places. While they were kids and they lived at home, they really had very little illness. But after they got out on their own, they didn't stay vegetarian, didn't do a lot of things, and they don't have the same health they used to. I have four grandkids and five great-grandkids. My husband is Ron. He has a company called Sunrise Security.