WHOLE HEALTH 1999-01-11

CHAPIN CLARK

MILL VALLEY, Calif. -- Mollie Stone's Market, a small, independent supermarket company based in this cradle of the alternative-medicine movement, is opening its first dedicated "wellness center."

But unlike the many large chains that are rolling out similar departments, Mollie Stone's, whose stores offer a wide range of health-food items in addition to a full mainline grocery assortment, is taking steps to ensure shoppers are as well informed as the shelves are well stocked.

The wellness center, slated for a Burlingame, Calif., remodel opening next month, will be managed by two full-time and two part-time staffers, said David Bennett, the company's co-owner. Candidates for these jobs must have a background in alternative medicine, nutritional supplements or health-food retailing and should require no training to speak knowledgeably to customers about wellness-center products and services, he said.

"We need to have people who know more than we do. We need to learn from them how to integrate this into a supermarket setting."

That means attracting people who might be put off by some of the demands of working in a traditional supermarket environment, Bennett said; so wellness-center employees will not have to wear uniforms, as will other store employees, and they will have certain unique performance incentives.

"We're not going to take one of our checkers and integrate them into a wellness center," Bennett said. "We believe it's a different mind-set and a different employee base."

The 300-square-foot department will regularly host speakers, including local alternative-medicine practitioners and manufacturer representatives, Bennett said. Wellness-center shoppers will also have access to the Internet, an interactive kiosk and a small library of books and videos to borrow or purchase.

"It's addressing a large number of our customers who want to take control over their own health," he said. "What we're trying to do is create a shopping experience. By providing the value-added information, we expect to be very successful with it."

Bennett said there will be no charge to shoppers for informational services.

He and his partners, Michael Stone and Richard Moresco, hope that the more shoppers know, the more confident they will feel perusing the 3,000 to 4,000 stockkeeping units of vitamins, minerals and herbal supplements; natural personal-care products; and sports nutrition aids on display in the wellness center. (Customers will also be able to special-order products not found in the store.)

The department will be located close to the front of the store, near the produce section and a coffee bar, Bennett said.

The concept's development was inspired by successful health-food stores in the area and by the opinions of local residents, he said. "We talked to people in the neighborhood and did surveys. The store manager lives in the neighborhood. We feel we have a pretty good sense of the neighborhood and the customer base."

The Burlingame store, with 18,000 square feet of selling space, was, until October, a unit of Lucky Stores, Buena Park, Calif. Mollie Stone's has five other stores in the San Francisco area, ranging in size from 10,000 square feet to 34,000 square feet.

Bennett said the company is considering retrofitting the rest of its stores to accommodate wellness centers, depending on the first department's success. He added that although Mollie Stone's currently does not operate any in-store pharmacies, the wellness center could be a gateway to that business.

"Perhaps in the future, as the wellness center grows, we'll integrate it with a commercial pharmacy."