On Saturday, Main Street Sumner saw the opening of natural health and beauty store, Jubilee Naturals.

The shop, in the former BB’s Closet consignment store at 909 Main Street, sells a variety of herbal supplements, hair products, skin products and specialty foods to customers looking for alternatives that don’t contain artificial chemicals. Jubilee Naturals will sell west coast-produced products from outside vendors and products carrying an in-store brand name, both of which she meticulously researched before stocking.

“Some other stores will sell products that are made of 75 percent natural products, which is the bottom limit that manufacturers can meet and still call the product natural,” Owner Kim Ode said. “For me, that’s not a high enough standard. I’ve worked with a lot of people with health issues like cancer, and the last thing they want is another chemical in their body.”

Ode has more than 20 years of experience working with and selling natural health products, a career she began shortly after college in response to a classifieds advertisement, she said. Since then, she has worked for and co-owned health stores in Enumclaw, Bonney Lake, South Hill and Puyallup. She most recently came out the other end of a buyout for a store that included a three-year noncompete clause. Now she’s opening a store from the ground-up in a city that doesn’t have a dedicated natural health business.

Ode and her husband made the decision to open the store in early January, based on the fact that it was a potential moneymaking venture in an area in which she was well-versed, she said. The retail space had become available in December.

“I like where we are near the train tracks, because when traffic backs up I’ll be out there with a trampoline and a sign, letting people know we’re here,” Ode said.

Shifting from inherited co-ownership to building a business from the ground up has been challenging. Whereas before she primarily needed her product expertise, now she has needed to quickly develop proficiency in areas like payroll, the process of which has taken a lot of energy, she said.

But she’s using her own products and knowledge to  help her on her way.

“When I need to concentrate, I know I need protein,” she said. “When I need to stock inventory, I know to have carbohydrates. I don’t put any junk fuel in my body—I don’t use caffeine or sugar. Just good, clean fuel.”