A wooden sign that reads “Maplewood Nutrition and Dietary Food Shop” hangs from a building in Maplewood Mall, protruding from the rest of the shops and telling passersby what they can expect to find inside. That is, the same thing they’ve been selling for nearly 50 years-- healthy options in the heart of Germantown.
“We started because my husband was interested in [healthy] food, back when it was not really popular, and we had an idea that this was the food of the future,” says shop owner Charlotte Ciment, a business-minded woman who knows the value of nutrition. “It has lasted almost 50 years, because people are more interested in what they put in their body now, and like [they say] ‘you are what you eat.’”
The shop is split into two units, both accessible from a shared step. One sells mostly vitamins, the rows of shelves overflowing with bottles of every nutrient imaginable. The other shop carries food items and has a large refrigerator with a variety of beverages.
The dual-room setup is a change from the original arrangement, in which only one side was used, but a lot can change in half a century. The shop actually predates Maplewood Mall, which opened about 25 years ago, but the location has never been a problem.
“We are a neighborhood store,” Ciment says. “We’re a little hidden from the main population, but they find us.”
Find out more about the Maplewood Nutrition and Dietary Food Shop, along with some of Germantown’s other healthy options, in next week’s group 11 feature.
By Jessica Lynn Argondizza, Kyle Bagenstose and Darla Synnestvedt
Group 11, Germantown
1 comment:
Nice article about a shop serving it's neighborhood well.
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