The Montana Harvest Story
By Joseph L. Chiappetta Jr.
Thirty years ago the creator of Montana Harvest had an idea. He had been an athletic person his whole life and he knew that the secret to being athletic was maintaining good health through proper nutrition. He also knew that the key to being healthy was living healthy. That living healthy was a lifestyle choice, and it required not only discipline, but access to the right products. The Health and Wellness Lifestyle was relatively new, and that as an emerging market, there were many ideas about what products to use and where to get them. he decided that if he could involve himself in the selling of these products he would be in the best position possible to live the lifestyle he believed in, and earn a living doing it.
Another major factor in this equation is that the quality of the majority of health products sold over the counter are often poor to mid-range. Most stores seemed to want to sell items that generated the best profits instead of selling the best quality products. Because of this it was decided that Montana Harvest would be a store that was going to sell the very highest quality products, and the customers were going to know the difference. Educating the customers through complete product knowledge would be the cornerstone of a shopping experience in this store. It wasn't enough to just sell the "best stuff." Montana Harvest would develop a reputation for giving the best customer service too. The owner had now turned his lifestyle into much more than a personal quest; it had become a passion to give others the great products that he enjoyed, and in doing so improve the quality of their lives.
The first Montana Harvest Natural Foods Store opened in the early 1980's in Bozeman, Montana. Bozeman is a beautiful tourist Mecca in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains. The town is also a gateway to Yellowstone National Park and other major attractions. Because of its small town atmosphere and unique location, Bozeman attracted many wealthy business owners, celebrities, and tourists, many of whom became regular patrons of the small, but instantly popular Montana Harvest Natural Foods. The store eventually incorporated a small restaurant where healthy meals were prepared using many of the same products sold in the aisles. Business Mogul Ted Turner, Actress Jane Fonda, and dozens of other celebrities became regular patrons. The reputation of the store grew and so did its dedication to locating and selling the finest health products available. Before you could read about it in a magazine or hear about it on TV, it was probably for sale on the shelves of Montana Harvest... Unless of course the product didn't measure up. A customer looking for a product not available in the store would soon discover that a better product was in its place. Store employees would spend as much time teaching customers about the products for sale as they would actually sell them. Customers enjoy their shopping experience as a result of this level of customer service, and Montana Harvest employees are all experts in the products they sell.
The second Montana Harvest opened over 10 years ago in Billings, Montana. Unlike its smaller Bozeman counterpart, the new store was a full sized retail outlet capable of handling many more products. People drive hours to shop at these two stores, and many tourists even order by phone and have these higher quality products shipped to them rather than settle for second best. Today both stores still sell the very best products and give the very highest level of customer service. The Health and Wellness Lifestyle is a household phrase these days, and even in these tough economic times, people still want to maintain and improve their health. Montana Harvest employees have become some of the most knowledgeable and passionate experts in the world regarding Health and Wellness Products, and their passion for providing the best products is only equaled by their desire to help customers achieve their own personal goals. Now this expertise is going to be available to the rest of the world.
In October of 2009, Montana Harvest Natural Foods will launch a website selling its products online. People everywhere will be able to have the very best Health Foods and Supplements in the world shipped to their doors.
