Ellwood Thompson's Natural Market

Ellwood Thompson'sEllwood Thompson's is a very successful, evironmentally conscience natural market based in Richmond, Virginia.  CEO and founder Ryan Youngman would love to bring his natural market concept to Columbia Heights.  Youngman feels that the DC USA retail complex would be the perfect fit.  Show your support for bringing Ellwood Thompson's to Columbia Heights here.

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Written by Columbia Heights News   
Saturday, 18 August 2007
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Ellwood Thompson'sWe recently had a chance to speak with Ryan Youngman, CEO of Ellwood Thompson's.  He expressed a strong desire to bring his environmentally conscience natural market concept to Columbia Heights.  Ellwood Thompson's was established in 1989.  The current owner, Rick Hood, is also one of the original founders of the natural grocer.  Ellwood Thompson's started out as a small-scale city market in an up-and-coming area of Richmond over a decade ago.  Since then, it has grown to become the largest and most successful natural market in Richmond.  Ryan Youngman came to run Ellwood Thomson's after years of working for Whole Foods Market.

Armed with the success of the Richmond location, Ellwood Thompson's has set out to expand to other markets with Washington, DC being at the top of his list.  CEO Ryan Youngman has already looked at many neighborhoods in the District but none of them attracted him as much as Columbia Heights.  He spent several days walking through the streets of this neighborhood visiting various retailers and speaking with residents from all walks of life.  He absolutely fell in love with Columbia Heights.

Ellwood Thompson's puts environmental responsibility at the top of its agenda.  Youngman originally wanted to set shop in a LEED certified building in the District but short of building his own building from scratch, he found it nearly impossible to find such a building.  Youngman is willing to move into a building without environmental certification, but he is committed to using the most energy efficient systems in the build out of his grocer.  He also intends to use as much recycles furniture and store fixtures as he can.  Even the way in which he operates his grocer is a model for environmental awareness.  Most of the fresh produce offered by Ellwood Thompson's would be seasonal and come from local farmers.  This would minimize the impact of long distance shipping of produce that are not in season.

Youngman needs at least 15,000 square feet of retail space to run Ellwood Thompson's.  At the moment, the DC USA retail complex seems to be the most promising candidate.  The 50,000 square foot space left vacant by Whole Foods Market could easily be carved out to accommodate Ellwood Thompson's.  Youngman is very enthused about this prospect.

We would like to lend our support to Ryan Youngman in his efforts to bring Ellwood Thompson's to the DC USA site.  Ellwood Thompson's is the perfect compromise between Whole Foods Market and Trader Joe's, both of which had significant community support but would no longer consider DC USA primarily due to unreasonable dedicated parking demands.  Ellwood Thompson's offers the high quality, natural products of Whole Foods Market but in the more intimate and accessible setting of Trader Joe's.  Youngman told us that they have no parking requirements.  He feels that the open-to-all parking garage would be more than sufficient.  He is confident in the number of customers who would come by foot and by Metro.

We urge you to continue expressing your support for Ellwood Thompson's by emailing Ryan Youngman ( ).  At this point, Youngman doesn't feel he needs any more convincing - he is highly committed to opening a location in Columbia Heights.  But, he would still like to hear your opinions and receive any suggestions you may have.

Comments
Written by GforGood on 2007-08-18 08:08:16
FANTASTIC! I was so happy to see two things 1) true (as far one can tell) commitment to being more environmentally friendly than most others 2) none of that "dedicated parking space is a must" -nonsense! This would be the perfect addition to DC USA and would raise its profile considerably.
Written by Park Road Guy on 2007-08-18 16:49:40
I am so stoked about this! I really think that both Trader Joes and Whole Foods will regret their decisions, but who cares? I'm even more excited about giving a 'little guy' a chance. I'm sure that this will be a thriving market offering much higher quality than Giant currently does. I'm particularly excited about local produce being offfered 'in season'. I'm tired of biting into the crunchy and flavorless peaches from Giant.
Written by e on 2007-08-19 09:20:48
park road guy--if you're so into local seasonal produce, why don't you shop at one of DC's farmers markets. Saturday is both Mt. Pleasant and U Street which are both within walking distance, and Sunday is the fantastic Dupont Market. 
 
All of these markets offer much more local and in season produce than any store could offer, plus you get the satisfaction of knowing that you've supported local farmers.
Written by Mt Pleasanter on 2007-08-23 08:28:26
Hey "e." I hope you aren't opposed to this. As someone who regularly shops at the farmer's markets in MtP, 14th and U, Penn Quarter and DuPont I have to say that actually having a market offering similar products that is open regular hours every day would be a boon for both me personally - and local farmers.
Written by Richard on 2007-08-23 14:28:50
Love the Mt.P market!!
Written by Ernie on 2007-08-24 09:44:22
I saw an article about ET in the NW Current yesterday and it was very positive. The CEO really loves Columbia Heights because its urban, dense and diverse! Check out the article, I don't think the NW Current is on line though. This is so positive that finally a retailer recognizes the value in our neighborhood.
Ellwood Thompson's
Written by on 2007-08-28 15:11:12
One day per week farmer's markets are not enough! Let's get an Ellwood's in DCUSA. An environmentally friendly, locally owned store that purchases from local farmers would be great for our community - would bring more people in to shop local. Wouldn't take anything away from the local farmer's markets, and would in fact probably benefit those farmers if they could also sell to the store. Great!
Written by ex ET on 2007-09-11 15:23:59
ET's is a nice store. Some clarification is in order - Mr. Youngman began at ET's this past spring, and had no hand in getting the store to it's current position - all of that was done by his predecessors in the business. Just felt the need to clear that up.
Written by DC Veggie on 2007-09-11 15:37:35
I'd love to have an ET in the neighborhood. Bussing to WF's in Logan sucks.
Written by 4theBetter on 2007-10-30 22:06:45
I disagree that this is a brilliant idea. What about prices? Everyone has boasted about the store's environmental consciousness and locally grown food - what about our own locals? What about the people in federal housing near 14th Street, how will this store benefit them? How can Columbia Heights' development avoid driving out low-income families and homogenizing the racial make-up of this neighborhood?
Written by Poor people suck on 2007-10-31 10:20:01
They can shop at Giant. There is nothing wrong with having multiple choices in Columbia Heights. Don't forget there is a Giant right around the corner...


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