The trio of brothers running Sunshine Market in Lynnwood, at the corner of 212th Street SW and 44th Avenue W, are serious about their fruits and vegetables.
They stand behind their products, support local farmers and try to be there for their customers nearly every day of the year, 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays and until 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday, said Noor Almtowaq, 29. And they’ll stay open later if a customer drives in at closing time, he said.
He’s the eldest brother and the driving force behind the purchase of the stand, which they opened in September 2013.
“Noor’s the heart of the entire business,” said 26-year-old Alex.
Yet Noor now works at Microsoft, finding time mainly on weekends and some nights for Sunshine Market, and it’s Alex who’s hooked on produce.
“He has so much passion for the business,” said younger brother Josh, 22. “It’s like he fell in love with produce.”
Alex agreed and said he’s not likely to fall out of love anytime soon either. In fact, he’s searching for a site for a second, bigger store where he can expand the selection.
He dreams of a string of stores offering both conventional and organic produce. He said there’s a science to understanding how fruits and vegetables work — “for example, potatoes hate light, bananas love heat, asparagus loves water” — and in understanding how to sell produce.
“When you put tomatoes, basil, eggplants and ginger next to each other,” he said, “it’s a guarantee you’re going to sell them all.”
He’s always been interested in how things work. Younger brother Josh said Alex was the kind of kid who was forever taking things apart and putting them back together. He studied at Edmonds Community College and earned an engineering degree from the University of Washington, because he wanted to understand the technology behind materials like concrete.
“I’m an inventor and my imagination was limited because I didn’t understand the materials, so it limited me,” Alex said. Understanding materials “grew my imagination,” he said.
The brothers didn’t start out planning to go into the produce business.
“I didn’t even know what cilantro was, to be honest,” Josh said.
Prodded by Noor, they were just looking for a business. And they liked the Lynnwood location. Perched on a hilltop at a busy intersection with three corners anchored in Mountlake Terrace, the site overlooks a Lynnwood business district and streets leading to the Alderwood Mall and I-5.
It’s housed a produce stand at various times in the past, as well as a coffee stand, sometimes both at once. But there were few, if any, improvements to the building and nothing seemed to last for long. That changed when the Almtowaq brothers took over the site. It was Alex who almost singlehandedly rebuilt the building, doing everything the city would let him do by himself. He redid the electrical and plumbing, built the shelves and an awning for shade. He installed new siding and garage doors that can slide up to open an entire side of the building.
“He built this whole entire building all by himself,” Josh said. “He’s really smart. I used to come down and watch him.”
Todd Hall, planning manager for the City of Lynnwood community development, said the brothers made “significant modifications” to the building and their business is apparently running smoothly.
“Since they’ve come in, we haven’t had any complaints or anything,” Hall said. “It seems to be going really well.”
The brothers said they made a lot of mistakes and their first customers didn’t expect Sunshine Market to last long.At first, they didn’t have proper coolers and their produce wasn’t being sprayed with water to keep it fresh. So Alex installed coolers and bought the software for a state-of-the-art sprinkler system.
“My spinach now lasts two weeks,” he said. “I won’t leave it in the store two weeks, but it lasts two weeks. When I first opened, I couldn’t even get it to last three days.”
Customer Kainitra Crammer, who lives in Bothell but works near Sunshine Market, said she loves the freshness of the produce. She can put it in her fruit bowl and it won’t attract fruit flies because it’s not spoiling right away, she said.
“It’s not the grocery store’s produce,” she said, “and you can clearly tell, because of the way it lasts.”
The brothers order from independent local farmers and smaller outfits like Peterson Fruit Co., a family-owned business in Mukilteo. Often it’s a customer request that brings a new product into the store. That’s how the brothers started carrying raw milk from Jackie’s Jersey Milk in Bellingham. They started out selling 18 bottles a week and now sell 90.
They also sell fresh goat milk, which is even harder to find; theirs comes from Lucky Hook Farm in Moses Lake.
“People drive from like, Arlington and stuff, just to come buy it,” Josh said.
They also sell organic eggs from Stiebrs Farms in Yelm, fresh every three days, he said. And duck eggs, which he described as “a very rich egg” beloved by Asians.
Another big seller is their raw honey, purchased from a beekeeper with 46 beehives ranging from Mill Creek to Walla Walla, Josh said.
“It is like, the best honey out there,” he said, adding, “We believe 110 percent in our honey.”
There are also familiar items like chocolate milk from Twin Brooks Creamery in Lynden, coconut water, Bulgarian feta cheese and Beechers Cheese. Other jarred and canned products give a nod to the brothers’ Middle Eastern roots. There’s olive oil from Lebanon and Tunisia, coriander from Pakistan, Turkish figs, dolmas and cornichons, tahini paste and dates.
Although they consider themselves Americans, the brothers fled with their family from Iraq in 1992, in the wake of the first Gulf War. Aided by Red Cross and United Nations workers after crossing into Saudi Arabia, the Almtowaqs made their way to Washington state, living in Everett for a time and then Lynnwood.
His family history may explain in part why Alex has studied philosophy and history and seems just as prone to discussing Plato, Socrates and Galileo as he is to talking produce.
Indeed, the conversation at Sunshine Market seems to be part of the customer service.
“One of the coolest things here is being able to meet with the brothers,” said store regular Doug Clark, maneuvering through the market in his wheelchair. “And since I’m disabled, they actually have excellent customer service.”
He’s also partial to the produce, he said.
“I’ve gone up to the Yakima fruit stand, just to compare prices and quality,” he said, “and I just turned around and came back here.”
Retired media-arts teacher Claire Beach, of Edmonds, called Alex’s impassioned explanations his “TED talks,” referring to the short, powerful talks made popular by the Technology, Entertainment and Design conferences.
She chatted with Alex on a recent visit, but that didn’t distract her from the produce, which she said has helped her recover from a serious illness. She’s been following an anti-inflammatory diet, including cutting down on carbs, and has lost 40 pounds and regained her vigor, she said.
“This is the first time in my life I’m eating what my body wants,” said Beach, adding that she grew up in the South. “I was raised in Betty Crocker Land.”
Customers like Beach are inspiring, Alex said.
“When people come back and they tell you they feel better, healthier, stronger — it’s a good feeling,” he said. “It keeps you going.”
He could be making a lot more money as an engineer, but said he doesn’t like sitting behind a desk.
“Engineering is a hobby,” he said. “It’s something I do because I love it.
“But selling produce is different. You’re selling something that feeds the entire world.”
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