Settler's Country Market opens second location

MOSES LAKE - Settler's Country Market recently opened a second

Grant County location on Valley Road in Moses Lake.

The new store is there by customer demand for organic foods and

supplements, explained Dock Womack. He owns the business with his

wife, Penny Womack.

MOSES LAKE - Settler's Country Market recently opened a second Grant County location on Valley Road in Moses Lake.

The new store is there by customer demand for organic foods and supplements, explained Dock Womack. He owns the business with his wife, Penny Womack.

At the Ephrata location that opened eight years ago, customers came from all over Grant County, and even from as far away as Yakima, he said.

"Our customers from Moses Lake have been bugging us," Womack said. "Every time they come in, they want to know when we're opening the store."

Most of the store items are there because customers requested them.

"We have a real specialized clientele and we just cater to it," he explained.

Customers represent different socio-economic backgrounds.

"Mostly people come to a health food store because they need us for some reason," Womack says. "They want to improve their diet, or have a special diet, like wheat or gluten-free, or need supplements."

The store offers a wide variety of natural and organic products, he said.

"More people are finding they need to improve their diet, so they show up here," Womack commented. "We have homeopaths or naturopaths in the area. They lead them into a more healthy lifestyle. They come to us because they need, in one way or another, to improve their health.

The business also sees "a lot of foodies," he said.

In Moses Lake, some items are still coming in, such as ice cream, bulk herbs, spices, fine wines and beers.

He also hopes to start selling produce this week and to offer as many locally grown  items as possible.

Customer Brenda Horat, of Moses Lake, calls herself one of Womack's "very regular customers."

She started frequenting his Ephrata location about four years ago, as she was seeking gluten- and casein-free (milk and dairy free) food for herself and her two children.

She also wanted food without preservatives.

Her children have an autoimmune disease called celiac disease and one child has autism.

Putting her autistic child on a casein-free diet "helped immensely" she explained.

"What they carry are the products I use," she said. "He's willing to bring in the products I use."

Horat called Womack "very customer-driven" and said she "really appreciates his customer service."

The business first started eight years ago in Ephrata, where a location still exists.

The Womacks acquired their store there when the then bowling alley roof collapsed from a hard winter.

They remodeled the building, adding 2,400 square-feet to the structure.

The Moses Lake store is located at 530 W. Valley Rd., Suite J in Moses Lake.

Store hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

For more information, call 509-766-9981.