When the owners of a longtime independent business retire, a community can lose more than a place to shop.
It can lose local jobs, supplier relationships, and decades of knowledge that cannot be transferred through an inventory spreadsheet. The result is often a closed storefront or a familiar local name absorbed by a larger company.
Nature’s Storehouse took a different path.
Founded in Canton in 1972, the natural-food store has remained independently owned for more than five decades. Its latest ownership transition was carefully planned to protect what local customers, employees, and producers had helped build.
The story is not simply about a business lasting. It is about passing that business forward without separating it from the community around it.
1972 to Today: A Timeline of Local Ownership
1972: The Store Opens
The business began as one of the region’s early natural-food stores, bringing products to Canton that were difficult to find in conventional supermarkets at the time.
2002: The Crabtree Era Begins
Rainbow and Joshua Crabtree purchase the store and begin 21 years of ownership. During that period, they expanded its fresh produce, dairy and prepared-food offerings while maintaining its identity as an independent downtown health food store.
2016: Recognition for Customer Service
The St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce presents the business with its Customer Service Excellence Award, recognizing the reputation its owners and employees had built locally.
2023: A New Generation Takes Ownership
Yen and Clark Maine, purchase the store after a succession-planning process involving the Center for Businesses in Transition and the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce.
2025: State Support for Expansion
The business receives a $497,000 NY Forward grant toward a larger expansion and rehabilitation project at its downtown location.
2026: Construction Begins and Nature’s Café Opens
Construction begins in April on a $662,000 expansion and rehabilitation project supported by the NY Forward grant. The project connects 19 and 21 Main Street and adds approximately 2,000 square feet to the business’s downtown footprint.
Nature’s Café subsequently opened at 19 Main Street, adding table seating, made-to-order food, and specialty drinks to the store’s longtime takeout offerings.
Why the 2023 Transition Mattered
Selling an independent business involves more than finding someone capable of completing the purchase. For the Crabtrees, the right successors also needed to understand the store’s place in Canton.
Their search was supported by the Center for Businesses in Transition, or CBIT, a program established by the Adirondack North Country Association to help business owners navigate succession and keep viable companies operating within their communities.
That mission is particularly important in smaller towns. When an independent retailer closes, the effects can reach employees, neighboring businesses, local producers and residents who may have few comparable shopping options nearby.
In the store’s 2023 ownership announcement, Rainbow Crabtree described Yen and Clark as people “invested in the North Country and committed to working with local farmers and partnering with the community.”
The goal was not simply to complete a sale. It was to find new stewards.
The Maines’ North Country Connection
Yen and Clark were not entering the natural-products industry for the first time.
Clark’s mother, Sandy Maine, founded Adirondack Fragrance & Flavor Farm in 1979. The family business produces natural fragrance products inspired by the Adirondack region.
After living and working in Asia, Yen and Clark returned to Northern New York in 2022 to raise their family and take on leadership roles at the farm. They officially purchased the company in June 2023 with support from ANCA and its business-transition partners.
Their experience gave them firsthand knowledge of independent retail, natural products and the responsibility that comes with succeeding the longtime owner of an established local business.
In the same 2023 announcement, Yen Maine expressed gratitude for the legacy built by the Crabtrees and their team. Rather than promising immediate sweeping changes, the new owners emphasized listening, continuity, and gradual improvement.
Local Ownership You Can See on the Shelves
The value of local ownership becomes tangible through the store’s relationships with regional farms and producers.
Local suppliers include Martin’s Farmstand, Kent Family Growers, Birdsfoot Farm, Canton Apples, Village Veggies, Whitten Family Farm, Fullers Farm, Milkweed Tussock Tubers, 8 O’Clock Ranch, Cedar Hedge Farm, and Bittersweet Farm.
Several are based in Canton itself. Others operate in nearby North Country communities, including Potsdam, Lisbon, Winthrop, Heuvelton, De Kalb Junction, and Lowville.
These relationships create a regional network connecting nearby producers with customers in downtown Canton. They also allow purchasing decisions to reflect local growing seasons, available harvests, and products shoppers specifically request.
Remaining independent makes those relationships easier to protect. Decisions can be made locally by people who know the suppliers, employees, and customers affected by them.
From Preserving a Legacy to Expanding It
The first stage of the ownership transition focused on continuity. The next stage expanded what the business could offer.
Construction began in April 2026 on a $662,000 expansion and rehabilitation project supported by the $497,000 NY Forward grant awarded in 2025.
The work connects the existing store at 21 Main Street with the adjacent historic building at 19 Main Street. Removing the wall between the storefronts creates a unified floor plan and adds approximately 2,000 square feet to the downtown operation.
Nature’s Café is now serving customers from the expanded space. The new café builds on the store’s history of vegetarian takeout by adding made-to-order meals, specialty drinks, and indoor seating.
The broader rehabilitation project also encompasses:
- Expanded retail, bulk-food, and produce areas
- ADA-compliant front and rear entrances
- Modernized building systems and commercial equipment
- Restored façades, masonry, signage, and energy-efficient windows
- Four rehabilitated apartments above the commercial space
The project increases access to food, wellness products, and gathering space while preserving two historic Main Street buildings.
In the official groundbreaking announcement, Clark and Yen described the café’s development as “a pivotal step toward our ‘Vision 2028’ of becoming the region’s premier health and wellness hub.”
That vision gives the ownership transition a clear direction. The Maines are not only maintaining an established store; they are creating more space for healthy food, regional suppliers, and community life in downtown Canton.
Still Local, More Than Five Decades Later
No business remains unchanged for more than 50 years. Products evolve, customer needs shift and each generation of ownership brings new ideas.
What can remain consistent is the business’s relationship with its community.
For this downtown Canton store, that has meant independent ownership, knowledgeable service, and connections with North Country farms and producers. The 2023 transition preserved those foundations. The expansion and café are building on them.
That is what makes this more than a story about a store changing hands. It is an example of how thoughtful succession can protect a local institution while still giving it room to grow.
More than five decades after the doors first opened, the business at 21 Main Street remains locally owned—and its next chapter is already underway.
Visit Nature’s Storehouse
Address: 21 Main Street, Canton, NY 13617
Phone: (315) 386-3740
Store House: Open daily, 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Paid parking is available on Main Street. Free parking and a rear entrance are accessible from Riverside Drive or Hodskin Street.
