London health food stores could close after 40 years in latest high street blow

A not-for-profit health store fears that it will be forced to close after 40 years as it struggles to pay the bills.

Health defense Organics in Hammersmith, west London, could shut for good after footfall has halved since the pandemic, and it has ‘seriously impacted’ its chances to stay afloat, its owner has said.

Ruth Wallace, 55, told Metro: ‘Things took a real downward turn post-Covid.

‘The high street was really badly hit because people were working from home. There are now so many more working-from-home options. 

‘With Covid, people learned how to shop online – not that they didn’t before… and they got high street fatigue, so they’d shop from home.

‘But to really focus on your health, it’s more expensive to eat organic and whole foods.

‘You need to be able to have that extra bit of disposable income to be able to put that aside and say “that’s towards my health”. 

‘And with post-pandemic, I’d say spending had already decreased, but then when the energy crisis hit, it made people who didn’t think they’d have to decide whether to heat their homes, literally, or eat organic. 

‘Which are you going to do, sit there freezing, eating organic tomatoes? No, it’s not going to happen. People had to make those choices and then it just deteriorated, the spending deteriorated as the energy bills kept mounting.’

Health defense Organics, previously Bushwacker Wholefoods, was taken over by Ruth in April 2023 after its owners retired.

The store sells packaged seeds, grains and nuts as well as herbal remedies, vegan, gluten-free and wheat-free products.

Behind the shop, Ruth’s husband Max, 60, offers boxing and non-contact kickboxing training in addition to self-defense classes for women.

But Ruth said the high street was hit ‘really, really hard’ after the Government reduced business rates relief, which Health defense Organics benefited from as a retail store.

The owner said: ‘It meant all of a sudden that my business rate bills more than doubled – and I started while there was a 75% discount. For that to go down to 25%, my bills literally more than doubled, and I was just drowning.

‘I’m really fortunate in that Hammersmith & Fulham [London Borough Council] has recognized community interest companies and as a not-for-profit company, all of our plans are all to do with helping our community. 

‘I wish I could say I’m doing this for the money, but no. I wish I were able to say that I’m doing this from my heart and I’m able to earn a living. But no, it’s literally for love.’

Ruth continued: ‘It’s because I come from a healthy background. My religion is literally half health. We focus a lot on the [belief] that your body’s your temple.’

She told Metro that post-pandemic a lot of businesses in Hammersmith have closed and that the high street has changed a lot, adding that customers’ spending has halved since before Covid.

‘What the shop would take in a week pre-Covid it was double what we take now,’ she said.

‘It’s really hit hard. And then summer, I don’t exactly know why, it’s like more people went away. It was a ghost town. It was like “where are they going”.

‘We started dying from late May [to] June this year. It was horrendous. I really thought this was the end as far as the shop was concerned.’

Then Ruth had the idea to start a fundraiser which has so far raised more than £10000 since August this year. But she said she’s not usually the sort of person to ask for help.

She said: ‘I’m one of those people that people come to for help, but not very good at asking for help… But it’s actually been amazing.

‘We’ve raised more than half our goal and I just can’t believe it really. You can’t even anticipate the generosity of some people – and people who you think are really not doing well themselves.’

Half the money has already gone towards bills and paying off ‘very patient suppliers’ while Ruth hopes to spend the rest transforming the back of the shop into an ‘educational space’ where the store can provide cooking demonstrations and workshops.

‘If I close, that’s it, we’re gone. People have asked me “do you have another branch” and I have to say “no, I don’t”. When this [store] is gone, it’s gone. 

Ruth recently made the ‘painful’ decision to let a member of staff go in a bid to balance costs.

Asked by Metro whether the Government is providing enough support to small businesses, she said: ‘I really feel for the high street small business and I do hope the Chancellor can shed some support and show a bit of love to small businesses. 

‘It feels like, and I’ve spoken with other small businesses in the area, it feels like they don’t care. When it’s the small businesses that enable us to be more of a community, yes, I’m sure you can get a “hello” or a smile in Tesco or any of the other high street shops.

‘But it’s the community shops, the smaller ones, where you can just have a chat. You can ask “how are your kids getting on”. 

‘It would be nice to feel as though we’re cared for. I don’t expect to, though in all honesty, because the way things are going, it’s just moving towards the Government showing a care for the individual.’

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