House of Health: a 50-Year Greensboro Institution I Found Through My Own Front Door
I had no idea House of Health existed until one of my applicant tenants mentioned it.
That is when I met Randal and Isabela Pack at the first home Eric and I ever purchased together, 907 W. Wendover, which I now rent as the Idlewood House in the Idlewood neighborhood. At some point they mentioned their family owned a natural health store here in Greensboro. That store turned out to be House of Health at 1018 W. Gate City Blvd, and once I looked into it I felt a little embarrassed I had never been in. I have been going ever since, and the experience has been consistently good enough to warrant this post.
It has been here since 1973.
A Real Family Business, Across Generations
House of Health was founded by Ran and Jane Pack, who were in their early fifties when they started over professionally and opened the store. That kind of late-in-life leap, betting on a vision of community health that was well outside the mainstream at the time, is worth noting. Natural health retail in 1973 was not the category it is today.
The store has stayed in the Pack family ever since, and is now recognized as the longest operating health food store in the Piedmont Triad. That is not a marketing claim. That is just what happens when a family tends something carefully for fifty-plus years.
Today Randy Pack runs the Greensboro location. The Winston-Salem location at 5952 University Pkwy is operated separately and has two holistic health nutritionists on staff, Wendy Pack and Jason Pack, who are available for more in-depth guidance on herbs and supplements. A third location serves Cana, Virginia, near Mount Airy.
The Greensboro store is the original and oldest of the three. It is owned and operated independently by Randy, and one of its best qualities is that you can still walk in and talk to him directly.
What You Will Actually Find There
House of Health carries a genuinely impressive range of natural wellness products. The bulk herb section is one of the best in the area, which matters if you make your own teas, tinctures, or cook with medicinal herbs. Beyond that you will find:
- Quality nutritional supplements, vitamins, and minerals
- CBD products
- Essential oils
- Gluten-free and organic foods
- Natural hair and body care
- Sports nutrition
- Holistic blends, tinctures and extracts, and aromatherapy items
I can speak to this from my own experience. I have been in multiple times and talked with Randy directly on several of those visits. Every time, the whole staff has been kind, welcoming, and genuinely knowledgeable. Not knowledgeable in the way where someone recites what is on the label. Knowledgeable in the way where you can tell they actually use this stuff and care about getting you the right answer. That is a rarer quality than it should be.
One important note for online shoppers: the Greensboro location is not connected to the online store. Online orders are handled through the Winston-Salem location. If you want products specifically from Greensboro, visit in person or call ahead.
Why I Am Writing About a Health Store on a Real Estate Blog
Fair question. The answer is that the neighborhoods I work in, the in-town Greensboro blocks around Fisher Park, College Hill, Westerwood, and the Wendover corridor, are full of people who care about where they shop and what they put in their bodies. Knowing your neighbors and your neighborhood resources is part of what makes a place feel like home, and House of Health is the kind of place that makes Greensboro feel like Greensboro rather than anywhere else.
There is something that feels consistent about a city that built its identity on textile mills and the people who ran them, and still has a family health store that has been quietly serving the same community for over fifty years. I wrote about that deeper thread in Woven Into the Ground: The Textile History of Greensboro if you want the longer version of why this city has always had a particular relationship with independent, generational business.
House of Health also fits into a broader picture of locally owned Greensboro businesses worth knowing. I spotlighted The Bodega downtown recently for the same reason: these are places that exist because someone cared enough to build them, not because a franchise model said the numbers worked.
The connection to House of Health also felt worth sharing because it came through my work in a direct way. I met Isabela through renting the Idlewood House at 907 W. Wendover, learned about her family's store, and now I am sending people there. That is community, operating exactly the way it is supposed to. If you want to know more about the Idlewood neighborhood itself, I covered it in depth in the Idlewood neighborhood guide.
Looking for Deeper Herbal Guidance?
House of Health is a wonderful resource for stocking up and getting general guidance. If you are looking for something more personalized, my daughter Ivy Ham is a certified clinical herbalist who offers one-on-one consultations. She also makes her own herbal products and writes extensively about herbs, nutrition, and natural wellness at ivyherbal.com. Her articles are a genuinely useful free resource whether or not you ever book a consult. I also wrote about the broader value of handmade knowledge and traditional skills in The Hands That Turn Houses Into Homes, which touches on why this kind of expertise matters more now, not less.
Between Ivy's practice and a store like House of Health, Greensboro is quietly well served for people who want to take a more intentional approach to their health.
Visit House of Health
Greensboro Location
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Address | 1018 W Gate City Blvd, Greensboro, NC 27403 |
| Phone | (336) 275-6840 |
| Monday through Friday | 10:00 am to 6:30 pm |
| Saturday | 10:00 am to 5:00 pm |
| Sunday | 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm |
| Online Orders | In-person and phone only at this location |
Winston-Salem Location
| Detail | Info |
|---|---|
| Address | 5952 University Pkwy, Suite C, Winston-Salem, NC 27105 |
| Phone | (336) 377-3202 |
| Monday through Friday | 10:00 am to 6:30 pm |
| Saturday | Closed |
| Sunday | 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm |
| Online Orders | Shop localhouseofhealth.com |
Have you been to House of Health? I would love to hear what you think of it in the comments below.
Joy Watson is a Realtor® serving Greensboro and the Piedmont Triad. She owns and manages a portfolio of rental and short-term rental properties in historic in-town Greensboro neighborhoods. Learn more at joywatsonrealestate.com/blog or visit the preferred vendors page for trusted local recommendations.
