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MISSION STATEMENT To serve the local Asheville and Southeastern regional areas by providing a source for organic food on retail, wholesale, and educatory levels. OVERVIEW The Ideal Beverage Company, LLC was formed in Asheville, NC in 1998 to manufacture and distribute wholesale organic beverages. Grain milks (such as Rice, Soy, Oat, Almond), herb teas, smoothies, and juices will all be freshly prepared and bottled for sale in and around local regions. In addition to fresh pre-packaged items for take-out, these same items can be served, cafe-style, to complement the drinks. Eventually, the Ideal seeks to become not only a wholesale distributor for its own product line, but for a wide range of additional local organic food in the Southeast. Additional items created would include, a retail natural food store, herbal apothecary, full 24 hour natural foods restaurant, coffee shop/juice bar, bakery, and an information/education center set up to promote organic farming, food production and medicinal plant use. Initially operating all divisions out of the same space, the primary focus will be on wholesale beverage production and distribution in the local Asheville area. As the line expands, greater attention can be placed on the Ideal's retail components. HISTORY / LOCATION Situated on Haywood Road in West Asheville, the building's history is of particular significance with regard to it's intended use and the name 'Ideal'. For most of it's life the building housed drug stores and contained an original [1930's?] soda fountain which still remains. In it's heyday, Haywood Road was the lively central shopping district for a community a few miles west of downtown Asheville, just across the French Broad River. With two movie theaters, a large hardware store, a bank, a gas station, it's own post office, and miscellaneous retail businesses, it was a self-sufficient town unto itself. The Ideal Drugstore was situated on a major intersection at the corner of Haywood and Brevard Roads. Known as the "End of the Line" , the old trolley from downtown made it's last western stop here, and recently the city honored the site with a commemorative monument. Still a major intersection today, with 11-13,000 cars passing on Haywood Road alone (additional traffic flows from Brevard Road, a connecting link to the I-240 and I-40 interstate highway), the location affords visibility, accessibility, and boasts shared use of one of the largest parking lots in West Asheville -- approximately 100+ spaces for a handful of retail businesses. Many stories confirm the reputation of the store as far more than an ordinary drug store, but a community focal point where local residents would meet and relax over a cup of coffee. The Ideal s last owner, Phillip Crouch, like his father before him, had a loyal clientele and gained the respect of the community over the course of many years. Previous reputations and many existing fixtures allow for the perfect re-creation of the old flavor of The Ideal as a community hang out for young and old alike. As West Asheville undergoes a rebuilding and revitalization process, and a wave of new families continue to move here, the diversity and combination of old and new residents makes for a lively and balanced environment. Located at 733 Haywood Road, the building was built in the late 1920's or early 1930's, and is a 2500 sq. ft. single story brick structure with a new oil heat system and updated electrical panel box. Space is readily available for full kitchen facilities, though construction modifications would be needed. call 828-236-9090 |
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