The Potomac Adventist Book and Health Food Store is changing its name to “LivingWell.” The change comes after an 18-month process of talking with customers, Seventh-day Adventist church members and Adventist pastors. The store will roll out the new name March 16, though the rebranding work will continue for several months.
“We hope to be able to serve even more people in even better ways,” says Kermit Netteburg, general manager. “Helping people to live better physically, emotionally and spiritually is the focus of our mission. Our new name helps us focus on that like a laser.”
he store also started several new initiatives to make certain the spiritual side of the mission increases because of the name change.“We have started Bible study groups at the store, and people love them. One woman drives two hours each day in order to be part of the group,” says Kathleen Burton, operations manager. The store is also giving away free Adventist literature to paying customers.
With 13,000 customer transactions each month and 20,000 people who receive regular emails from the store, there are many options to expand the mission. About 70 percent of those people are not Adventists, making the mission potential huge.
Netteburg worries that some people may feel the store is abandoning its Adventist roots because the Adventist name isn’t in the store. “We won’t ever change our Adventist DNA. But, our research showed we had people who hadn’t come into the store because they thought the store was only for Adventists.”
“We want to be a ‘mission field’ store, as well as one that serves Adventist members,” Netteburg adds.
The store is located in the Cherry Hill Shopping Center in Silver Spring, Md., next door to Target. The store is open regular mall hours, except on Friday after Sundown and Sabbath.
