Vitamin City

I've been shopping at Vitamin City for several decades since they were a little hole-in-the-wall at a neighboring location, and I was a very frugal student at CSULB. Their selection is very extensive and their prices usually 20% or more less than other locations. The owners are knowledgeable and helpful and the staff helpful and friendly.

We've been shopping here for a little over a year now. The place is deceptively larger than it appears from the outside. It has a great selection of natural, whole and raw foods at great prices. The prices are better than sprouts and whole foods.

They have a good selection of specialty health foods such as gluten, dairy, or animal free foods. Their dairy and dairy alternative selection is pretty good. They have a limited but pretty diverse selection of organic fruits and veggies. I think that their meat and fish selection is pretty slim, if they sell them at all. Overall, we are able to purchase about 80% of what we need for our specialty whole, organic and raw food diet. And the prices are great.

I would say that about 70 percent of their employees are friendly, while the remaining 30 are surly. They are not running a high tech or fancy looking business. The place is stacked with boxes upon boxes of products. Also don't expect to be offered an espresso or latte upon entering the store.

There are usually more employees working than there are customers and they seem to be pretty knowledgeable about their products. If they don't have what you want they are usually quick to offer to look it up and see if they can order it for you without big hassle or requiring prepaying.

Overall, this store makes healthy living more convenient and affordable.