Collin Lueck
Editor
Golden Harvest Market purchased the former To Your Health Market in Merrill last April. A grand opening will be held at the store at 129 N. Prospect St. Feb. 16-18.
Under the ownership of Timothy and Nikki Conjurske, Golden Harvest Market has been in business in Rhinelander for 18 years. Two and a half years ago, the business moved into a brand new location on County Rd. G, boasting the best selection of organic products in the Northwoods.
Timothy said that people in the Northwoods – and nationwide – are becoming increasingly conscious of eating healthy foods, which is Golden Harvest Market’s specialty. Golden Harvest Market features the same department you would see in a typical grocery store, just held to stricter standards.
“We police our products according to a set of standards that is a fairly high standard of reasonably good food,” Timothy said. “We have a set of standards of things that we absolutely will not sell regardless of who would buy it. The whole set of standards works around whether or not we would call it food.”
Golden Harvest Market purchases some of its stock from local producers, and is always on the lookout for new products that meet their standards.
“Anyone who’s local is coming by asking to sell their products,” Timothy said, “plus we go to two or three trade shows a year looking for new products in the industry.”
The Rhinelander location draws customers from as far north as the UP and as far south as Wausau.
The Conjurske’s started their business in a small building in Rhinelander. Steady growth has allowed them to expand in Rhinelander, and now to Merrill. Timothy said he sees the potential of moving to a larger location in Merrill in the future.
“We’ve been interested in running multiple stores,” he said. “It gives us better options in this Northwoods where health food is kind of behind the times. Having more outlets gives us more ability for people to bring their products in.”
The business was born from Timothy’s own interest in healthy food.
“I’m a food lover,” he said, “anything to do with food, especially fresh.”
When the business started, Golden Harvest Market was at the forefront of the movement toward healthier eating.
“It’s been in these last 18 years that it’s really blossomed everywhere,” Timothy said. “It’s by far the fastest growing segment of the food industry.”
Golden Harvest Market has even received compliments from customers from California, a state recognized as a trend setter in healthy food.
“I like it when we have customers from California and they say they like it better than anything that’s out there,” Timothy said.
Golden Harvest Market’s Merrill location carries the same products as the Rhinelander store, just on a smaller scale. People interested in eating healthy could purchase all their groceries at the Merrill Golden Harvest Market location, Timothy noted.
“We’re pretty much covering everything that we sell here (in Rhinelander),” he said. “If somebody wanted to eat from that store only, they could buy stuff to make their meals.”
Under the management of Katelynn Krueger, Golden Harvest Market in Merrill carries a full line of natural and organic health foods, bulk products, health and beauty products, grocery, produce and supplements.