"Avery Schroyer has a lot of ideas about what's good for you.
Among the 1,700 products on his store's shelves are the solutions for a full range of both serious ailments and minor irritations that adversely affect people's day-to-day living.
Consumers at Schroyer's shop, aptly named Good for You, can find body length pillows to help pregnant women get comfortable, an antigravity chair for busy executives with chronic back aches, and ergonomic kitchen tools for arthritic cooks. Chronic snorers can find pillows to quiet them, soccer parents can pick up portable seatbacks, and cast-laden youngsters who long to swim can buy inflatable, vacuum seal sleeves to keep casts dry.
Schroyer describes Good For You as "a health, wellness and comfort store." The store's best-selling products include pillows of many types, cushions and other back supports, soft, packable Tilley hats which offer rain and sun protection for travelers, and Jobst support socks and stockings.
Company-trained by Jobst, Schroyer is certified to fit support and compression garments such as sleeves, gloves, stockings, and socks. These products ease pain and discomfort from lymphodema, carpal tunnel syndrome, varicose veins, and leg aches. Many customers are referred by their doctors or physical therapists.
Available in a variety of colors and styles, the Jobst socks and stockings are popular with people who have to sit on planes for hours. The dress styles for men and women look the same as regular dress socks and hosiery.
Along with travelers, gardeners, walkers, and swimmers, people coping with the physical challenges of aging make up a large portion of Schroyer's customers. Because he has so many products to make their lives easier, his store is a bonanza for anyone buying a gift for an elderly friend or relative.
Good For You has practical items that they'll really use and appreciate, rather than put on the shelf with last year's slippers and bath salts. Besides the ergonomic kitchen and gardening tools, other practical gifts include easy to turn lamp switches, a handle for a milk or juice carton, lift chairs, ergonomic pens that stay steady, and long-handled reachers that allow people to get what they need without using stepstools.
For elderly people who have so much difficulty in moving that they quit going out to lunch and other gatherings, Schroyer has a number of innovative products to help them resume their social lives. To get in and out of a car easily, he suggests a swivel seat and a hand grab bar that fits on the car's door. A lightweight wheel chair weighs only 20 pounds and makes getting to and from the car quicker and easier for everyone.
Schroyer has sold a number of these wheelchairs to people who keep them in their cars, to use when they're with friends or relatives who have trouble walking far. Another product he recommends for elderly visitors or residents is a bathroom grab bar. It supports up to 250 pounds by suction alone, saving the trouble of drilling into tile walls.
Schroyer enjoys learning how customers have benefited from particular products. "The second time they come back and you see or hear how it's helping them, how they can do what they used to be able to do is the best part" of being in business, he said.
Only 24, Schroyer began thinking about his future business while he was a student at Auburn University. He attended some trade shows even then, realizing that the growing aging population would provide a good customer base.
Schroyer swam for Auburn until shoulder injuries and subsequent surgery forced him out of the sport. The experience gave him insight into how pain and limited mobility affect one's daily living.
He foresees opening other local Good For You stores in the next few years. "People want to maintain their quality of life as long as possible," he noted.
Good For You is located at 3061 Fieldstone Way (Beaumont Centre South Shoppes). The store is open from 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, call (859) 266-GOOD or visit the company's Web site at www.goodforyou-online.com.
Meet Avery
Avery Schroyer, owner of Good For You
Childhood home: Lexington
Childhood ambition: to be a veterinarian, like his dad
First job: working at his dad's clinic
What's playing in his car: XM Radio, all the time, on High Standard
Mentors: Mom and Dad. I watched them work hard for many years.
Proudest career moment: just getting the store opening, getting all the products here
Favorite weekend getaway: my house, relaxing with family and friends
What's worth splurging on: something that helps you relax
Last movie seen: "Stranger Than Fiction"
Favorite charity: Arthritis Foundation