We want you, your family and friends to eat well, always keep learning, embrace community and lead healthy and happy lives.
We want you, your family and friends to eat well, always keep learning, embrace community and lead healthy and happy lives.
In 1981, expecting mother, Margaret "Maggie" Nabors, was reading the ingredients on a pickle jar when she had a revelation. Listed in the ingredients section she found "preservatives" as an additive. "Wait a second," she thought to herself, "aren't pickles naturally preserved?". Call it a tipping point or maybe a moment of clarity, but this discovery gave way to a bigger realization. Maggie realized if we didn't act soon, processed foods and a malnourished society would be our future, and the future of her daughter, if she didn't do something about it. She took action and started on the quest to introduce healthy food, and more importantly knowledge, to her community. From that point on, we've been trailblazing, shaping and pioneering the natural foods industry. With the help of our friends, community, and you - our customer - we are able to carry on, elevating the health and wellness of others.
1978
$60 and a vegetarian soup business.
The husband and wife team, Margaret and Phillip Nabors, started a home-based natural foods catering business with $60.00 and a cooking pot.
1981
Margaret Nabors: Working mother superhero
Margaret opened a small (2,000 sq. ft.) health food store in Akron's Merriman Valley. Maggie worked 7 days a week, open to close.
1981
Our "Golden Standards" were created.
With a desire to be the trailblazers of doing what's right, we wrote our standards in stone (okay, maybe not stone...) and have been using them in our stores since, never skipping a beat.
1989
Our flagship store was opened in Akron, OH.
This 31,500 sq. ft. store is still open today, serving thousands of customers a week and includes a full-service restaurant.
1994
Blackout Days for DSHEA
This 31,500 sq. ft. store is still open today, serving thousands of customers a week and includes a full-service restaurant.
1999
Philip Nabors: Organic Farming Advocate
Converting a conventional farm to an organic farm is a costly, lengthy venture. With a desire to better the environment and have access to local organic produce, Philip Nabors worked shoulder to shoulder with Ohio Amish farmers. By paying organic prices for conventional produce to Amish farmers for 3 years, he helped fund these farmers journey from conventional to certified organic farms.
2012
Maggie Retires to Blueberry Hill
After passing the torch to her husband and sons, Margaret moves on to play in the dirt all day at our organic blueberry farm, Blueberry Hill.
2015
Location #2: Highland Square, Akron
Known as the "living room" of Highland Square, this store eradicated the "food desert" the neighborhood was facing, and is home to our popular café and rooftop patio.
2020
Mustard Seed Wellness Launches.
Welcome!
Our logo is the representation of wholeness and the "flower" of wellness (C). Each "petal" of our logo (A) represents one of our 9 Golden Standards in our grocery stores , which was the basis on which we created Mustard Seed Market. Working from the outside, the light blue color (D) is splashed on the leaves, which is known to be beneficial to both the mind and body for its ability to produce a calming effect. At the middle of our logo, the intersection, a circle is represented within that space. This circle represents a Mustard Seed, and is surrounded by a mustard yellow tone, paying homage to our roots (B). Mustard seeds are known for their ability to grow from being tiny seedlings to large, strong trees with massive roots. What does this mean to us?
It means that it's the small, consistent changes in lifestyle that have long, lasting effects. When we take care of our bodies, our bodies take care of us.