OnSite Retail Group client Max-Wellness debuts in Columbus
October 29, 2011OfficeMax founder debuts wellness superstore in Columbus
Business First by Carrie Ghose, Staff reporter
Oh, baby boomers, you and your coveted wallets. Cleveland retail mogul Michael Feuer is bringing his latest nutrition and health products concept, Max-Wellness LLC, to Columbus. If the Max part sounds familiar, Feuer was the co-founder of merchant OfficeMax Inc. (NYSE:OMX) and its CEO until 2003, and he’s used “Max” in every company name since.
Max-Wellness started with four prototype stores in the Cleveland suburbs and Florida last year, and the store at Easton Town Center marks the first expansion. The privately held company did not disclose first-year revenue. Not much is changing from the prototypes, except that the chain will emphasize its price-matching guarantee.
The store is like the retail side of a pharmacy combined with a supplements store, selling a range of products to prevent or treat illness, from energy bars to diabetic test strips to orthopedic braces to wheelchairs. Sales staffers carry iPads loaded with the company’s Max-Answers app, which walks through various questions about symptoms to recommend products. The company said the algorithm is based on medical research.
Feuer said he wanted to create an all-inclusive selection for aging boomers pursuing healthier, longer lives.
Max-Wellness recently rolled out smaller in-hospital stores in the Cleveland area, aimed at selling home-care products needed by discharged patients.
Columbus is long known as a test market, and several chains have tried out some of their first shops or restaurants at Easton.
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