HOLLAND TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The third-generation owners of a West Michigan health food store are opening a new location in the Holland area.

Construction is underway for a new Harvest Health Foods location at 12683 Greenly St., off US-31 north of Riley Street in Holland Township. It will be the fourth and biggest location for the health food store that was first opened in 1952.

“All of our stores need more space and this gave us the opportunity to grow,” owner Mitchell Nol said.

The store will offer things like organic produce, vitamins, supplements, groceries and a meat section. There will also be a smoothie and coffee bar.

“(It will be) a healthy place to come and shop, a fun environment,” Nol said. “We’re always trying to bring healthier options and educate the population too about healthier options and healthier ways of living. So any opportunity we can help the community, we’re here for it.”

Mitchell Nol, who owns the store with his wife Emily Nol, said they had been looking to open a store in Holland for a while. Emily Nol went to Hope College, so the area was on her “hit list,” he said. While driving around on her birthday, they spotted a ‘for sale’ sign on the property near Meijer, Target, Best Buy and other stores.

“We’ve always wanted to come to Holland for many years, so this is a really good opportunity,” Mitchell Nol said.

Once the Holland location opens up, the owners will look to open more in the Grand Rapids area, where the store originated.

Emily Nol’s grandfather opened Harvest Health Foods in 1952 after he came to the United States from the Netherlands.

“When he came to the United States, he noticed that a lot of the food was much more processed and was much different than everything the Netherlands. And so he’s like, ‘Hey, I want to bring these clean ingredients. … More of (an) ingredient list rather than pre-packaged food,'” Mitchell Nol explained.

The family has kept that philosophy as they expanded to their second Grand Rapids location in 1997 and then opened a spot in Hudsonville in 2004.

The couple has gotten a lot of positive feedback from the Holland community, which “gives us the warm fuzzies, makes us excited,” Mitchell Nol said.

“We weren’t sure if people knew who we are,” he said. “We were really excited to bring our store into Holland, and when we were putting the signs down, we had a whole bunch of people honking and waving, and someone yelled out the window, ‘I’m so excited!’ That was super good.”

Harvest Health Foods has been working with Dixon Architecture and DCI Construction.

“They’ve really helped us navigate a lot of things, a lot of the waters that we’ve never been in before, we’ve never built from the ground up,” Mitchell Nol said.

Construction is expected to be done around November or December, and they’re aiming to open in late December. 

Emily and Mitchell Nol will start the hiring process around September or October.

“We love coming in every day talking to our staff and just seeing the joy they have working for us and our customers, too. I mean, we’re in the aisles and they’re always thankful for us being here,” Mitchell Nol said. “Having people come back and seeing results. … It’s a blessing for us to be able to be in the community and have everyone welcome us. Feels good. So keeps us going every day.”

For more information about what the store will offer, go to harvesthealthfoods.com.