City’s First Health Foods Store Celebrates 75 Years

Vitamin pills were a new technology when Highland Park registered nurse Ester Fuqua started selling them in Snider Plaza more than 75 years ago.

That view has changed. But much about Plaza Health Foods hasn’t.

The first vitamin shop and organic café in Dallas is still owned and operated by the Fuqua family. Now, it’s Ester’s grandson Max who’s behind the register dispensing vitamin supplements, along with reliable information and sound health advice that customers can’t buy online.

Ester was trying out a novel idea when she put vitamins on a shelf near the cakes and pies that she and her husband sold in their shop. 

Today, the problem isn’t shortage — it’s surplus. The global market for vitamins and supplements is projected to be worth more than $250 billion by 2032, according to Feb. 17, 2025 Fortune Business Insights. 

But since vitamins are categorized as food by the FDA, manufacturers don’t need to show that their products are safe and effective before stocking them on shelves. 

Even though it’s not required, all Plaza Health Foods labeled products are made in an FDA approved and inspected lab from third-party-tested raw materials that originate in the United States or Europe. After manufacturing, products are tested again by an independent laboratory for potency and purity before being sent to the Snider Plaza store.

“If you’re going to supplement, you need to look for good quality supplements that are tested, that are pure,” Max said. “If someone comes in asking for a fad product, I’d rather have them not buy anything.”

A steady stream of customers stopped by Plaza Health Foods one Wednesday morning, some looking for specific products and others for advice. 

Customer Patricia Headley said a trip to Plaza Health Foods is always on the agenda when she visits Dallas from Italy. 

“I find their products to be truly beneficial,” she explained. “The proof is in the pudding.”

Max, who is a certified nutritionist, has a lifetime of experience in health. He had a crib in the store as a baby. Once he got old enough, he was paid $2 an hour to do everything from cleaning the store and fixing the frozen yogurt machines to ordering products and sweeping the sidewalk. 

One of Max’s early jobs was making carrot juice, which involved grinding the carrots and pressing out the juice. 

“You could not get that out of your fingers. I mean, it was just everywhere,” said Max, who was then a student at Armstrong Elementary. “I remember my principal specifically asking me, ‘Why are your fingers orange?’”

Max’s son, Daniel, had his own crib in the store as a baby. Today, the fourth grader at University Park Elementary is becoming an expert in selling vitamins and managing the store himself.

And Max says the future looks bright, both for Plaza Health Foods and Snider Plaza.

“I’m excited about what we’re going to do, and what the city’s going to do and what the shopping center’s going to do,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to the next 25 years.”