Growing a Business Naturally
By Sara Anne Corrigan and Paul Musgrave • Photos by Mark McCoy

Consumer demand for organic food drives local entrepreneurs

Kyle Moran tells people that he and his wife Catherine opened Elbert's Natural Food Market "because we got tired of driving to Louisville."

Louisville is home to two major organic and natural food stores, Whole Foods Market and Wild Oats. The Morans had been driving there because last year their dog, Savannah, prompted them to "go organic."

The Golden Retriever pup had been suffering from ear problems, hot spots, excessive shedding, and a dull coat. "We were taking her to the vet weekly, had her on a special diet, and she was getting antibiotics and Benadryl. And still, she was just lying around, not playing like a puppy should," Kyle Moran recalls.

His sister-in-law, raising show-quality Rottweilers, told him that the dogs' breeder had put her dogs on an all-natural diet. "I was looking for a new alternative for the problems that my puppy was having," Moran says. "I had no other options. Savannah was suffering pretty bad and traditional medicine wasn't working."

He went to a local organic pet food shop, Give A Dog A Bone. He was skeptical, but bought a bag of organic food anyway and "switched Savannah cold turkey."

"We noticed a difference within one-and-a-half weeks," he says. "The trips to the vet were over, and she never got another hot spot. Her energy was back, and her coat was getting shinier. It turns out that she was basically allergic to what she was eating."

Most pet foods are loaded with preservatives, Moran says. "We began to think that if organic food could have such an impact on Savannah, what could it do for us?" The couple were both having health problems, he says, and the medicines they were taking "were just masking our symptoms."

"Our dog was now healthier than we were, and she was eating better than we were," Moran says. The Morans switched to organic foods too, and that's when they started driving to Louisville every month for groceries.

A few months later, the Morans made a decision that changed their future. While on vacation in Florida in November 2005, they went to Evermann's, a large organic food co-op in Pensacola. "It just blew us away. It was clean, bright, and it had everything. The customer service was outstanding," Moran says. "We came home with a single question: ‘Why can't we have this in Evansville?'"

They decided they could. In August, the couple opened their store in the new Metro Village shopping center, located off North Burkhardt Road on Evansville's East Side, an area that has seen an explosion of retail growth over the last two years. The store, located next to Give A Dog A Bone's new location on Virginia Street, carries a wide array of produce, dairy, meats, baby products, and nonperishable items, labeled either "organic" or "natural."

The Morans, both 26 years old, have known each other since the fourth grade at Evansville Day School. Kyle, a U.S. Navy veteran, worked with his father at the former Baker's Rack in Newburgh, Baker's Rack and More in Evansville, and his father's U-Haul dealership. Catherine Moran, whose maiden name is Elbert – inspiring the store's name – has an ownership interest in large family farm operations in Posey County and White County, Ill., and has also worked as an accountant for the family farm.

The couple spent months — and many sleepless nights — perfecting their idea and talking to anyone and everyone who could offer sound advice on everything from location to inventory. The Morans' main supplier, United National Foods, offered free store design services, and Robin Aldrich, owner of Give A Dog A Bone, encouraged the couple to lease an empty storefront next door to her. Having organic groceries and organic pet food next door to one another has been a good match, the Morans say.

The Morans opened Elbert's in August 2006. They believe that their emphasis on customer service and commitment to quality will enable them to successfully compete with the major chain stores, such as Wal-Mart, that now stock organic foods. Part of their strategy involves capitalizing on some of the existing confusion about what "organic" means. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture has set standards for food that can carry the "certified organic" label, the Morans are betting consumers are still clamoring for more information on what those standards are and are looking for retailers who can satisfy that demand...

Read more in the October/November issue