Walking into Cay Health Foods on 18th Street is like going back in time.  Wooden shelves and apothecary jars line the walls.  There is even a resident dog named Max, who depending on his mood, will come out and greet you.  Cay Health Foods, Bakersfield's first health food store and a fixture in downtown for 65 years is announcing they are going out of business once their current inventory has been liquidated.  Owner John Harrer says he is making this change to pursue other interests.  "We've been very fortunate to have been part of the community for such a long time.  The retail market is very competitive and getting tougher every year.", says Harrer.  "Retailing, especially in downtown Bakersfield, has been quite good to us, but after nearly thirty years it is time for a change."

Cay Health Foods is one of the oldest locally owned businesses in Bakersfield.  It was originally opened as the Diet Specialty Shop in a duplex on "K" Street way back in 1948 by James Cayford, a Scottish immigrant interested in providing people with more nutritious and wholesome foods.  The business grew quickly and the store moved to 18th Street to be in the heart of a booming downtown economic environment.  Mr. Cayford retired in 1972 after selling the business to Bill and Ginny Ready.  The Readys in turn sold the business to John and Ranae Harrer in 1984.  The Harrers added a bulk herb department, the largest in the Valley, and changed the product mix to better suit their customers' needs.  But it was Ranae Harrer who added a woman's touch and excellent customer service that gave the store a feeling you were shopping with family.  She knows just about everyone's first name and her conversations were as much about what was going on in someone's life as it was about the latest nutritional breakthrough.

Mr. Harrer said he made the decision to end his run earlier this year.  "We put the business up for sale to see if anyone wanted to carry on the tradition.  Unfortunately, cash flow and traffic numbers just don't make the business attractive enough to sell."  The sales listing ended July 31st and Harrer is now able to liquidate the assets.   It was a tough decision and Harrer says the hardest part is leaving his valued customers behind.  "Thirty years is a long time.  We've built many strong relationships with the people who shop in our store.  We feel very honored they entrusted us with their most valuable asset, their health, and we tried to never take that for granted."  

Harrer goes on to say he hopes the Kern County Museum will take the neon sign that has hung over the building's threshold for over half a century.  "I'm definitely not an artist, but I wanted to save money by painting the sign myself.  Over the last 30 years I painted it four times and it still looks pretty good in spite of my efforts.", Harrer smiles.  "We think it will fit right in with the Museum's neon sign exhibit and help folks remember the store long after we are a faded memory."