From the beginning, Nino saw the potential of the wholefood movement and was convinced that one day such ideas would be accepted widely enough so that the shop would be successful as a High Street store. In 1986 he was able to realise this conviction by the move to our present location in the very heart of Crouch End. Nino was a visionary, a man with a dream that we will all, one day, have a healthy diet. “I believe that the specialist shops of the future will be Junk Food Shops and the supermarkets will stock only healthy foods.” He was one of the few people in the trade to feel no threat from the supermarkets, he actively welcomed them branching out into organics and encroaching on the health food sector. He viewed them as helping him to realise his dream of bringing wholesome food into the mainstream.
In 1989, Nino was able to expand the business by opening The Haelan Clinic, offering the local community easy access to professional alternative and complementary health treatments. The Clinic started with only a couple of practitioners (both of whom are still with us!) and today has expanded to include over 30 practitioners and 20 teachers, offering treatments such as massage, osteopathy, acupuncture & nutritional therapy and classes for yoga, Pilates and Feldenkrais. Check out www.haelanclinic.co.uk to find out more.