her mineral-based cosmetics.
Company: Wellness Store
Owners: Terry and Steven Kelly
Location: Wickford, Newport
Employees: Six
Type of Business: Wellness products and services
Annual Revenue: WND
Web: www.wellnessstore.ws
Herbal tea, insect repellent and mineral-based cosmetics are just a few of the lines of natural and organic products that line the walls of the Wellness Store in Wickford and Newport.
The small store, says its owner, Terry Kelly, is not just a retail shop for herbs and aromatherapy products, instead it’s a destination store for consultation, therapy and information on how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Terry and her husband, Steven, opened their first store in Misoula, Mont. in 2000 after Terry was diagnosed with lupus, an autoimmune disease, which affects the organs, joints and muscles of the body.
“I was diagnosed with lupus about six years ago,” she said. “At that time in my life I was very athletic and it was very crippling for me.
“I couldn’t move. I’d wind up in an embryonic pose.”
Once doctors figured out what she had, Terry was told about the different therapies including taking chemotherapy in a pill form, steroids and other medications to suppress the immune system.
The side effects and thought of taking medication were not soothing to Terry once she started researching the disease.
“It was all very frightening,” she said, thinking back six years ago.
The more research Terry did, the more she found out what caused the disease and how she could slowly fight the battle against it.
Terry started looking into alternative therapies including acupuncture, which she said helped her feel better.
“My goal became to balance the immune system, not suppress it,” she said.
Before long, Terry was using bovine colostrum, mother’s cow milk (secreted right after childbirth) to treat the illness. Bovine colostrum effectively reduces and prevents viral and bacterial infections in immune deficient subjects, according the New England Journal of Medicine.
“I found a source that produced it in a lab,” she said. “Within 48 hours I was in my first remission.”
Terry began sharing her therapies at meetings with her rheumatologist, who then shared the therapies with other patients.
“My rheumatologist asked if she can send people to me,” she said.
Not all days were good days for Terry, then a real estate agent in Montana.
“There were some days I couldn’t drive. I said, ‘I’ve got to start a new profession.’”
Terry’s husband, Steven, suggested that his wife should create a “home for people to come to that will be a resource center and a place to find products and get treatment.”
She had already done the research, had products being shipped from all over the nation, and knew first hand what natural and herbal products had done for her.
The Wellness Store opened in Montana. Not long after, the couple decided that the pollution in Montana wasn’t helping Terry’s lupus and tiptoed around the idea of moving and opening another store on the East Coast.
By a fluke, Steven ended up in Newport and fell in love.
The couple opened the Wellness Store on Christie’s Landing in Newport in March 2002 and closed their Montana store shortly after.
Tourism generated a lot of business for the store, but it was too small.
Once the fall started to kick in, the Kellys realized that business could not be sustained in the Newport harbor location on a seasonal basis.
“We found this store in Wickford and opened on July 1st,” Terry said.
So, after maintaining both stores for a while, they closed the Christie’s Landing location and concentrated on finding another spot in Newport.
Because most of the Wellness Stores were from the East Bay area, particularly Barrington, the duo decided to open another shop in downtown Barrington.
“We couldn’t get the store to take off,” she said. “What we discovered is that we were more of a curiosity to people, but they didn’t want to look at what the products meant.
“It was mostly people wanting to check us out, but not support us,” she added. “It was very disappointing.”
The store stayed open only five months. That experience in Barrington did not stop the couple from opening another store in Newport in a better, more central location.
“Just look for us, we’ll be opening in a couple of weeks,” she says to a customer calling to find out why the first store was closed.
The location, at 105 Memorial Blvd. West, between Thames Street and Bellevue Avenue, offers more of a central access to the locals who don’t want to venture to the busy waterfront area during tourist season.
Now, business could not be better for the company, which has six employees at its peak time. “It’s been wonderful,” she said. “We’ve gone through the same problems all other retailers have in the last month and the economy isn’t good, but we have a great following and do well all year.”
The Wellness Store doesn’t stop at offering aromatherapy products and organic shampoos, it also sells yoga products, artistic jewelry and paintings and services that include facials and body massages.
Terry says: “What I’ve created is a one-stop shop for all wellness-oriented people.”
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