4629 Cleveland Avenue Northwest, Canton, Ohio 44709, United States
THE STORY OF RAISIN RACK
Locally owned Raisin Rack Natural Food Market offers a wide variety of organic groceries, gluten-free foods, fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, meats, vegan, vegetarian, beverages, water, and bulk grains, nuts, seeds and herbs. Raisin Rack also stocks a complete selection of supplements, vitamins, minerals, herbals and personal-care products. Stores are located in Canton, Ohio, where Raisin Rack was founded in 1978, and Westerville, just 15 minutes from downtown Columbus.
Customers often ask us the story behind the Raisin Rack name. No, it never was a raisins specialty store or a raisins outlet. Raisin Rack actually originated in the living room of owners Don and Paulette Caster, who were trying to come up with an inclusive name that would embody the nature of the business they planned to open at the corner of 39th and Cleveland in Canton in 1978.
Raisin Rack was literally an off-the-wall idea. As Don and Paulette pondered the possibilities, Paulette was inspired in her living room by several art decoupage wall hangings mounted on old wooden racks used to dry raisins. The creator of the pieces was RaisinRak, which had its company logo affixed to the bottom corner of the mountings. The name seemed like a natural fit. Thus, Raisin Rack was born.
“The name said something natural,” Don said, “about the history of food, the natural way that food came to be. The name says something about America and what it was. Raisins are a transformation, just like our store has evolved.”
The Casters are happy they decided on a name with a broad appeal.
“We wanted something that would work if we ever had multiple stores,” Don said. “At the time, we never knew that the business would expand.”
In Westerville and Canton, the name has been embraced by thousands of satisfied customers and continues to appeal to new shoppers every day.