MOM’s Organic Market now eyeing spring 2027 opening for Naperville store
MOM’s Organic Market, a grocery store chain focused on organic produce and ingredients, has pushed back the opening of its new Naperville location to spring 2027.
Scott Nash, CEO of MOM’s, previously said the business planned to open at 1163 E. Ogden Ave. this fall but now believes it will be ready in seven to eight months.
“There was a renovation to the premises to get us in there so we couldn’t just walk right in and start to build it out,” Nash said. “The landlord had some work to do, which always adds quite a few months to the opening.”
The new 12,000-square-foot market will be the company’s second Illinois-based store and the 30th overall for the grocery chain. A new location in Mount Prospect is to open Oct. 16.
Nash started MOM’s in 1987, initially running a delivery grocery business out of his mom’s garage. His business skyrocketed in popularity following a “60 Minutes” report on alar being used on apples in 1989, sparking a national conversation about toxic pesticides in produce. NPR did a show on organic foods after that report came out and a caller raved about MOM’s on the air, which also generated interest, according to the company’s website.
Since then, it has opened storefronts in locations that include Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
“We only sell certified organic produce,” Nash said. “Also, the quality of our produce is unmatched, in my opinion, by any other grocery chain in America.”
MOM’s has a list of over 250 ingredients banned from its store and does not allow companies to target children with their products by using licensed cartoon characters on the packaging. The brand only sells sustainable seafood recommended or approved by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.
Another feature that Nash said makes the grocery chain unique is their emphasis on partnering with local and regional brands.
“We love to support the startups,” he said. “We feel like we kind of incubate a lot of these manufacturers who are just starting up and maybe they have a table at a farmers market or two and they’re looking for their first retailer to bring them onto their shelves.”
For the Naperville location, some brands MOM’s plans to partner with include Jenny’s Tofu, Wisconsin Meadows Beef, Ethel’s Baking Co., Heaven’s Honey and Just Coffee Cooperative.
Beyond food products, the company has taken a number of other steps to make the grocery store more environmentally friendly. In 2005, the company stopped using plastic bags, followed by a ban on bottled still water in 2010.
Nash said he also believes the company’s focus on customer service makes it a cut above its competitors, calling the shopping experience “meditative.”
“We really work hard to save people time when people are checking out. We have fully staffed cashiers and baggers,” he said. “If they ever go back into like a Whole Foods, for example, or another store, they just feel like it’s a more stressful shop, so they end up coming back to us very frequently.”
When asked if MOM’s plans to open any more stores in the Chicago area, Nash said the company is currently not looking at other locations. Typically, MOM’s only opens two stores at a time and waits a few years before deciding to open more locations, which Nash said allows the business to get to better know the community in which it is working.
Naperville was chosen as one of its new locations since it is a suburb with a lot of families, he said.
“We have a few city stores but the suburbs are really our sweet spot,” Nash said, emphasizing that the grocery store is ideal for people who do a lot of cooking and have a lot of mouths to feed.
“We feel like Naperville is a great demographic for that,” he said.
cstein@chicagotribune.com