Organically Grown Malvern — Local services in Melbourne

I have been a regular customer here for several months. And although this shop's range is quite good, and prices are generally good. I am becoming increasingly annoyed with the attitude of the staff. To start with, the store's advertised closing time of 6pm weekdays is optional. You arrive at 5.50pm some nights at the doors are already locked, with a staff member putting through items at the register. You then have to bang on the door and explain through the glass that you just need a few essential items before they'll let you in. And tonight, due to heavy traffic I arrived at 5.55pm but just needed about 4-5 essential items for dinner & brekky the next day. I walked in and the only staff member in site was the guy who packs their shelves. He become immediately angry and said all the staff had gone home - before closing time - and demanded I leave. I explained I only needed a few essential items, but became even more irritated (ie: couldn't give a toss) and held the door open prompting me to leave. I couldn't believe this guy's attitude. I said "Aren't you trained to use the register? He just gave me his isual response "Naaahh". Obviously a dumb question, so I left empty handed & had to travel to Kew to buy what I needed. Speaking of that guy who stocks their shelves, I've watched him many times when I come into the store. His behavior is very very odd. You'd see him aimlesslessly staring at a shelf pretending to be working whilst he's obviously loafing around trying to catch the sports talk on the radio. Once I saw this guy staring at a shelf for several minutes & asked him "Lost something?" and got the usual response "Naaahh". I mean this guy is being paid by the hour to apparently loaf around listening to sports chat on the radio and give any customer unfortunate enough to ask him a question attitude - that's essentially it. And Woolworths might be interested to know one of their former staff is still wearing their branded hat and name tag in another business (!). Meanwhile, their floors are often filthy, and they have boxes of over-ripe produce sitting on the floor rotting (which i've observed is attracting fruit flys). I've also repeatedly requested they lubricate the hings on their (very) squeeky front door which pierces your ear every time you walk in the store - all to no avail. The Management and staff of this grocery store just don't get it and clearly...

Organically Grown (OG) is the best organic food store in Melbourne if not Australia. I converted to organic nearly 16 years ago and OG made my transition easy. The owner's are dedicated to the cause of servicing those who seek an organic diet. The passion for the cause shines through the store. The owners truly provides a service to those who shop there. I always find the price to be fair and reasonable with no extreme mark-ups like others. For me, it's a no-brainer - an investment in my health and I know at OG the investment is authentic. The store is compact, yet it punches above its weight in terms of range and quality. It's like a mini fruit/vegie market inside a mini-supermarket. I love the vibe of shopping at OG, I always stumble across something new and exciting. The market food (fruit/vegies) is always fresh to the relevant season. I'm often surprised by how long the market food will last once at home. I've had broccoli last two weeks and still be fresh to eat. I feel blessed to have OG and is part of the reason I stay in this area and do not...

Lovely little shop and has a decent selection of good quality organic produce at reasonable prices, most of which is package free (except the kale, which I wish came in a rubber band rather than a plastic sleeve). One thing I would love to see though is a shift towards more plastic free packaged options. The glass bottled milk is stocked here but sells out so quickly, I wish they could get more in, and a glass jar yoghurt option would be good too. Plus, there are plastic free personal care lines available now that I think would do really well in a shop like this, so I'd love to see them on the shelves here! Then, with The Source so close and the butcher nearby that accepts containers from home, my zero waste shopping would be far simpler! But, still, a great little shop and I will continue...