Natural High

“I’ve made it my life’s passion to
empower people,” says Wendy Meyerson, who owns the health food store.
This year marks its 25th anniversary and she is proud of Natur-Tyme’s
track record as an innovator in the field of alternative needs and new
varieties of diet and medical options.

Wendy Meyerson: Natur-Tyme’s owner celebrates 25 years of healthy living in 2008. MICHAEL DAVIS PHOTO

Natur-Tyme specializes in vitamins and
supplements with “integrative medicine,” which is not to be confused
with disregarding a doctor’s advice; rather, it’s using supplemental
practices. With more value put on the cost of U.S. health care plans
than on the overall well-being of citizens, many people simply can’t
afford pharmaceuticals and are forced to look for alternatives. Relying
on spiritual beliefs might not get one insurance coverage, but some
people pray for healing while others attempt experimental medicines in
addition to traditional methods. When combined, as Meyerson puts it,
people are getting “the best of both worlds.”

Meyerson’s interest in alternative
health care stems from her father, Stan Meyerson, who pioneered the
idea in his drugstore, Drumlins Pharmacy, which opened in 1959 in the
eastern, then-outskirts, of Syracuse. He was among the first
pharmacists in Central New York to sell supplements like vitamins C and
E. At a time when it was almost unheard of to mix traditional medicine
and supplementary aid, the senior Meyerson sought to inform his
customers of the benefits of incorporating both. A lot of his fellow
physicians thought he was crazy, says his daughter. 

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Six years after her father’s death,
Meyerson sees those who were once uncomfortable with integrative
medicine attempting to understand why their patients are turning to
that practice and how they can help. Her only regret is that her father
is no longer around to see it. “He pushed the envelope, he was ahead of
his time,” Meyerson says of her father. “We’re a different place in
Central New York because of it.”

Stan Meyerson purchased Natur-Tyme at
its West Manlius Street, East Syracuse, location in 1983 and reopened
at a new location on Charles Avenue in Solvay in 1987. Wendy bought the
store from her father in 2001. After seeing a need for more space, she
moved Natur-Tyme to its current location on Bridge Street a year later.
Although Meyerson isn’t a formally educated pharmacist, she learned a
lot from her father and has continued to learn through rigorous
research and talking with professionals. 

Natur-Tyme has grown from offering
herbal remedies and vitamins to carrying products for a wide range of
needs. People are searching for dietary and natural preventive methods
against illness and disease, like gluten-free diets, and many are also
becoming more environmentally conscious, which Natur-Tyme parlays on
its shelves.

One way the store reaches out to Central
New Yorkers is by holding an annual health fair. The first fair was in
2001 at the store’s Solvay parking lot. This year’s “Health
Extravaganza” was held in April at the Art and Home Center at the State
Fairgrounds. The event now draws more than 1,500 people, which Meyerson
says is proof that locals are becoming more aware of what her store has
been offering.

Natur-Tyme recently gave up its in-store
community room because it was about the size of an average kitchen and
lacked space for all of the interested attendees. But Meyerson is
scouting out new and larger locations for the seminars, which she hopes
to open up to local farmers and doctors as guest speakers. 

The Natur-Tyme brand first appeared on
shelves eight years ago; today the brand name extends to soaps, tea and
a range of other products. Meyerson says she and her team at the store
search for manufacturers to put the Natur-Tyme name on, and strive to
offer a reasonable price. “I think customers like to see that,”
Meyerson explains. “It’s a brand they trust and are comfortable with.”

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The store also features a cosmetics
counter with natural and organic skin and makeup products. Meyerson
says that when people think about going organic, they often forget how
many chemicals are in their beauty products. “People were getting the
diet,” Meyerson explains, “but they were missing the component that 60
percent of what you put on your skin goes into the bloodstream.”

She adds that many people are hesitant
to give up products they grew up using, so the store offers the same
types of products that mainstream companies offer, but in a more
organic way. Incorporating natural beauty products is part of
Natur-Tyme’s Step 1-4 System; being at step 4 means a person is living
100 percent organic. Whole Foods, a world-recognized natural and
organic food market, recently enacted a similar system; Natur-Tyme beat
them to it.

Apart from her position at Natur-Tyme, Meyerson also hosts a weekly radio show, Nutritional Insights, Sundays at 10 a.m. on WSYR-AM 570. She also will co-host a two-part television special, Evolving Medicine for Health and Healing,
airing on successive Sundays, June 22 and 29, at 1 p.m. on WCNY-Channel
24, during which she will talk to doctors and others about
complementary and alternative medicine, or CAM. And her Natur-Tyme
newsletter, also named Nutritional Insights, reaches 18,000 homes.

Meyerson expects the store’s customer
base will continue to grow. She just hired a part-time pharmacist, who
will be an important resource for customers and area doctors trying to
help their patients with CAM. Additionally, a physician was hired to
serve as a liaison between Natur-Tyme and doctors. “I don’t want a
trend or a fad,” she notes. “I want to build a strong foundation for
integrative medicine.”{mospagebreak}

In the future, Meyerson would like to
see her company collaborate more with physicians, and for Natur-Tyme to
expand into a larger building and offer additional services. For now,
though, she is pleased that Syracuse has embraced what Natur-Tyme has
to offer. “As long as Central New Yorkers continue to empower
themselves, and look to us to lead,” she says, “I hope to be doing what
I’m doing for a long time.”