Southtown Health Foods

Having lived in Beverly most of my life, Southtown has been a staple of the community for as long as I can remember. I frequently shop here and they have a wide variety of healthy choices.
I was recently made aware that Whole Foods may be coming to the Beverly area when the now shuttered Evergreen Plaza is demolished and rebuilt as an open air mall. Being a major grocer on a national scale, Whole Foods would definitely pose a threat to the survival of a mom and pop outlet like Southtown.

Having shopped at both stores, I can honestly say that Southtown may be a dollar or two higher on certain items than Whole Foods and on other items, (such as bulk nuts and seeds) Southtown offers a lower price.
However, when determining whether to shop at WF or Southtown I began to think about loyalty. There must be 30 Whole Foods Market’s on the north side and north suburbs of Chicago, and counting. As of the date of this review, they have yet to set a toe on the entire south side. I don’t care if they are in the process of building in Hyde Park, or are trying to make a phony statement with the proposed Englewood location. When they want to open a store on the north side, they make it happen… like, now!
Southtown has earned my business. If a person is willing to pay $ 30 for four pieces of fried chicken that taste like honey, or $ 60 for a dozen cupcakes because they are the latest fad, I can pay $ 1 more for a large container of raw honey at a place that has always been there when I needed them..

This is a staple for me! I can get all my gluten free goods AND fresh juice (or veggies, they will juice anything). They are also very knowledgeable about vitamins and almost anything else. They even have make-​up now!

This place is great for personal care items. I get a lot of my special paraben/​sulfate/​whatever-​free face products from Southtown. Where Southtown doesn’t excel is in its selection of food and «green» household products, which is a bummer because, I mean, it has the word «food» in the name. There isn’t a lot of food, but I do see a lot of employees convincing shoppers to buy nonsense vitamins or «cleanses» and citing a lot of specious evidence. I know a lot of health food stores have this kind of thing, but they also have… um. a wide variety of food. Gluten free folks may want to check this place out though. Also, I hate to be a Portlandia character here, but I do judge them for their liberal use of plastic bags. Once, I bought a tiny, tiny jar of face scrub, and the cashier instantly threw it in a bag without even asking if I wanted one. I’m not saying they need to shame everyone over an intercom without reusable bags, but they could at least ask if I wanted a bag.

I definitely agree with the review below mine. This is a family owned business that has sustained through a turmulous market. They have to be doing something right! They are obviously not attempting to compete with TJ or WF. I mean thye dont have the square footage!
I frequented this store before I moved and always received stellar and knowledgable customer service. I always left knowing more about something than I did when I came in.

I wish people wouldn’t knock this place. Its a surviving family owned business in this economy and its the only one we have. If it goes we won’t have anything in this meat and potatoes neighborhood. Whole Foods wouldn’t touch this neighborhood. Then you can spend all your extra money on gas to get to one to buy that one item you need.

While to do appreciate not having to drive to the south loop for Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s when I need to make a quick trip for a few items, I’m not crazy about the quality of the produce, the on/​off customer service (owners are amazing, cashiers — umm, no), or the prices ($ 8 and up for organic butter. Really? No, REALLY?!).
The convenience of their location coupled with their occasional sales will keep me stopping by sporadically, but I’m not a convert.

Great Juice Bar!
People are very knowledgeable and nice!
Excellent Products
BUT…
The prices were way to high!

Let’s be honest,
Why I went:
Close to my home
organic
nice vegan selection
Why I won’t be back:
More expensive than whole foods minus the ambiance (you read right about the expensive part $ 6 kettle chips…)
Bad customer service (she wiped her register station down, handled two phone calls and helped another employee help another customer before ringing me up. I was just standing there the entire time.)
Small store
Plastic bags

I agree with an earlier reviewer. Even though the selection is great, they limit their business and convenience (for myself and other customers, I am sure) because of their hours. It would be great if maybe they opened a bit later so that they could stay open later.
Parking is rough too, but it’s doable.

I love this store. The most important thing in busines to me is customer service. Here at Southtown they are very good at meeting the needs of the customer, they know what it means when said «the customer comes first».

Small store, but packed full of good selections. For the most part prices seemed reasonable, considering the fact that everything would qualify as specialty items at bigger box grocery stores. The bulk section was decent; I walked out with a cheap, very large bag of brown rice to replenish my dwindling supply at home. I also appreciated the pre-​made meals in the fridge case from Soul Veg — I had no idea that they made take-​away meals for any local shops.
One disappointment was that the juice bar was closed; I had been told that it was good, so I was sorry to not have the chance to sample their handy work myself.

It’s like a mini neighborhood version of a Whole Foods and a few years this used to be my favorite market, and I shopped here every week. Then I stopped going here so much and then I stopped going here at all. And when I came in yesterday I remembered why I stopped, which makes me kinda sad…
First the good: They have a great fresh juice bar and offer a large and full range of salads and other take-​out stuff from Soul Vegetarian in the cold case, including the delicious tofu and carrot salads. There is a great level of very personalized service — they’ll order a case of something for you if they don’t usually offer it.
But basically it’s a victim of a combination of its own shortcomings and the expansion of the organic food market. A couple of years ago I had to look harder and forage better for some vegan cookies, hippie soap and organic kale and this was like a gold mine. But now I can find most of the stuff on Southtown’s shelves at Jewel, Dominick’s and Whole Foods, and when I want to shop local I can also get a lot of it down the street at County Fair, and all at a waaaaay lower cost. I used to love that they carried my favorite Alba brand skin stuffs, but now Walgreen’s has that junk, too.
On one hand it all makes me really sad, but on the other hand I feel like you have to continually step up your game to get people to give you their money — And they don’t make it any easier to support them by closing at 5:30 pm almost every day! That’s pretty much going to be geared mostly to old people and stay-​at-​home moms, and even though I am a stay-​at-​home mom and I’m at that people-over-30-that-you-shouldn’t-trust age, I still can’t make it in there very often that early.
And they have hell’s own parking lot — park on the street.

Great selection, although they can be pricey, but what should you expect when it comes to health food.

the only problem i have with south town is that it’s not bigger. they have a large selection of some things — vitamins, dry goods, basic pantry items, etc. but, they don’t have much in the way of fresh meat or fish, or baked goods, etc… i talked recently with katie (who manages the store i believe and whose family owns the store) and she mentioned that they are planning on expanding in the near future. so that’s something to REALLY look forward to.
although the beverly neighborhood has the county fair grocery store to shop for fresh (and i mean FRESH) produce and di cola’s for fresh seafood, the neighborhood needs southtown to fill our other organic and special dietary needs without the blandness of health food store fare.
southtown carries a wide and tasty selection of food, some of it is local. they have a small book selection in the back of the store and a juice bar in the front. their «pharmacy» has vitamins and basic toiletries. my daughter and i love their fragrant selection of handmade soaps especially!
the staff is really friendly and helpful. they’ve watched my daughter grow from an 18 month old to a three year old. they were around to help me when i was trying to get pregnant again, to when i was trying to get thru morning sickness, to now when i desperately try to get my energy/​equilibrium back when my two kids sap the life out of me! :)
i’m so lucky to have southtown around and close enough to walk. which reminds me… i have to make a run there today!