I've worked at two health food stores. One only carried a limited range of tried and tested supplements, and was staffed by qualified herbalists. Most things were done by special order, if a customer really wanted something odd. The other had 15 times as many supplements, from every supplier imaginable. They only paid $7.25 an hour, so of course no one in that department was qualified. The most popular products, were drug test cleanse kits, and vitamin B to cut Cocaine. Ladies made a B-Line to get the newest Dr. Oz supplement, like Raspberry Ketones, or Green Coffee Bean Extract, and never looked at the food he has also suggested. The customers also were used to cashiers answering questions, about the thousands of supplements. Would not work there again.
Yep. So many people think vitamins, herbal supplements, natural remedies are a load of crap because of places like the second store you described. Quacks, money making schemes, frauds--make everyone else look bad. There are some things I'll use modern medicine for, and some things I'll use natural foods and herbs for. It takes a lot of work, though, to get past all the spam to find out the reality of what works for what ailment, and what doesn't.
Yeah, I know people who know their shit, and I don't like to pretend to if it can hurt someone. Saying "this works for blank" is not easy for me, because even if I know what it is supposed to be for, I don't know how it works, and most of that is unproven. It makes more sense to special order, because the customer comes back to the store, and the product is theoretically fresher. The second store had multiple brands of the same product, on the shelf forever. It also stops customers from buying things that could be dangerous, without the free consultation. The second store did tons of things I didn't like. If something expired, it was put on sale, not donated. The cafe pretended to be organic, but wasn't anywhere close. The sales tags were mostly pretend. I had to remember for customers, what was on sale, because they didn't change the computer. I did that to be nice, it wasn't explicitly encouraged.
GNC is super creepy, because the salespeople work on commission. Though I have met the kind of customer, who would take OTC meth in a heartbeat, over making any lifestyle changes.There is a huge market. It shouldn't be up to the stores to gatekeep, and only let people order things that are safe, and helpful. We need more laws.