Natural Grocers — Local services in Fayetteville

There are a lot of nice things about this Natural Grocers store. It offers a good selection at affordable prices and most of the staff was very helpful and knowledgeable in the year or so I shopped there. Unfortunately, a couple of employees there seem to have missed the customer service seminar. One of these is a young man who became annoyed when I asked him not to jam all my purchases into one heavy bag. I have repetitive strain injury and always bring two bags to evenly distribute the items I buy. This was the first time I encountered poor customer service at this store. On subsequent visits I avoided getting into his checkout lane which resolved the issue. Then at the end of October when I failed to get a promotion I had thought I qualified for, this same young man tried to convince me the promotion was for a different day. When it turned out I was 60 cents short of qualifying for the promotion before sales tax this young man contradicted his earlier statement by saying another customer had the same issue earlier that day. (He also noted that customer had been nicer about it). If that was the case, then he knew the promotion was that day and just didn’t want to be bothered with my questions. He called a man to the front who was in charge and this person turned out to have an even slimmer grasp of customer service than the cashier. This man walked over to me and brusquely said, “You got a question?” He was obviously very irritated to be bothered with the situation. I wondered what happened to “Can I help you?” – an approach that would at least pay lip service to the notion that he would like to help even if he ultimately couldn’t. It was clear the only thing this person wanted to help me with was finding my way out the door. As it turns out, I was able to find my way out the door without his help. And it is highly unlikely I will return. We are fortunate here to have two other health food stores, Ozark Natural Foods and Whole Foods. I’ve been an owner of ONF since the mid-80s and not once in all those years have I ever encountered the poor customer service I experienced at Natural Grocers. It’s unfortunate because, as I said, I had enjoyed shopping at this Natural Grocers store and had even recommended it to friends. I guess it’s true that a couple of bad apples really do spoil...

Overall: disappointed.

This is a small space and a good deal of space is dedicated to supplements. If that is what you need, great. There are so many places that sell supplements that this feels even more like a wasted opportunity. The selection of food items is ok. The personal care space is actually pretty good. But, again, there are other places near with similar offerings.

The reason this is a missed opportunity is because I end up having to go to Whole Foods or ONF anyway because this location is so-so. Sooo close, yet not doing me much good. Shame. Again, from Springdale this location would be very convenient and I would probably do most of my shopping here.

I see a lot of reviews about the great service. And I will say that there are some good interactions. The manager of the Beauty Area with long, curly hair is phenomenal. However, every single time I check out, though, (and I mean every time) the checker stops checking me to address some other customer's need or is just generally sour.

Customers here can be annoying and rude as well - from hippie parents making a production of the irritating things their children do, taking forever by making a production of checking out, entitled shoppers whining about not enough checkouts and then grabbing first in a new line when they were LAST in the other line? That's not very humanitarian or fair or polite. I would say I'm surprised but the customers are similar at ONF and Whole Foods.

Finally, Natural Grocers does have good sales. The rest of the time, they charge more than Harps for their offerings. Harps is bigger and has more buying power BUT I expect Natural Grocers buys more in the "organic," "natural" food space than Harps. So I don't get it...

Hence.....three stars. And I never shop there anymore for the reasons listed above. Also, the parking lot is so dumb as are most of the parking...

They have a few gems here each family cannot do without. Best supplement and essential oil sections with great fair pricing. Fun parking! Lot is shared with PetCo (they have a cute zoo) and Borders and the Bin store (think thrifting for unused items) so you just park once and enjoy your leisurely shopping day.

The staff is surprisingly helpful.

It's a slow paced patient atmosphere and it's almost sacrilege to be or expect Rush.

Delicious organic produce. Truly remarkably diverse "bulk" section.

They have rare finds like Properly Bottled yerba Matè without the added caffeine. They truly know what the foodies know ..except please add soy ..it's only dangerous when it's not organic 🙄.

They even have a bookstore section with the latest literature in the genre and sales for when they need room for the newest latest.

Probably the best filtered water at the dispenser to fill your own jugs for Cheap.

And restrooms. Not very cozy, but outdoor picnic table also; does come in handy sometimes.

It's a bit cold; bring your jacket.

And they are Always going Above to educate the public on health.

Bummer that they removed the community post board, tho. And I'd like to see local...