I’m spoiled. I live in a beautiful, growing, entrepreneural state. I live in a creative, educated, wealthy city. I live in a very educated, wacky, coveted neighborhood.
I can shop at one of the best Whole Foods in the world. I have an amazing co-op with tons of vegan food that I can walk to… and it’s open until 11pm every night. I even have a great little independent supermarket a quick stroll from my house for local tortillas, hemp milk, and almost anything else I need.
With all this abundance, I still miss Vitamin Cottage.
If you’re from Colorado, you know what I’m talking about. Sure, some people now call it “Natural Grocers,” but I refuse to. It will always be Vitamin Cottage in my heart!
Vitamin Cottage is the absolute sweetest little health food store. It’s everything Wild Oats used to be back in the early 90s (another child of Colorado) when we were still innocent to Whole Foods’ flamboyant ways. It’s cheap, homey, and full of regular people who prefer organic food. All the produce is organic, and there’s a super amazing bulk section where everything is prepackaged. So you get bulk prices without having to sift through a bulk bin. You could seriously shop there and get great organic vegan food for around $20 a week.
I have been trying to put Vitamin Cottage out of my mind, but it’s hard. I know it’s a mostly Colorado only deal, and I figured it was one of those things I had to give up when I moved to Austin (like cold nights). I can’t help but miss it though! I miss the bulk organic pine nuts, the lack of hippie dogmatism, and the friendly employees. I miss not ever looking at prices because I know everything is so inexpensive. I miss walking into the produce section and knowing that absolutely everything is organic.
Today I was reading the local mailing list for my neighborhood, and someone mentioned that an old sporting goods store was about to be replaced with a “natural grocery.” I was happy to hear this, but I didn’t get too excited. I figured it could be anything – even something totally icky like GNC.
A couple hours later, I was reading a random Austin blog and right before my very eyes: VITAMIN COTTAGE IS MOVING TO AUSTIN. Not just Austin, my precise neighborhood… which isn’t all that big. Little did I know that Vitamin Cottage has decided to expand into Texas, and this store down the street will be one of their very first ventures.
I am beyond thrilled. I was initially so exhuberant that I made my voice a little hoarse. Very soon, hopefully in a matter of weeks, I will be able to take a walk down to my favorite grocery store to get whatever bulk vegan food my heart desires. Even though it may not be all that special compared to the other super star grocery stores in Austin, Vitamin Cottage will make me feel like I’ve brought a little part of Colorado to Texas with me.
