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NORTHAMPTON — Wild Roots, known for offering local and organic food in Greenfield and Sunderland, has added a third location, replacing Tandem Bagel Co. at the Northampton Athletic Club.
Luke Eriksen, who co-owns Wild Roots with his wife, Kelli Eriksen, described the move to Northampton as “a total no-brainer.”
“The vibe between the two businesses just makes perfect sense,” he said, referencing the Northampton Athletic Club. “We have vegan options, vegetarian options, gluten-free wraps and bread.”
Having opened its original Sunderland location in 2017 and a second one in Greenfield in 2021, Just Roots offers more than 20 sandwiches, many named after local areas like Sugarloaf, Bridge Street and Deerfield, along with smoothies, salads, drinks and other special menu items.
Back then, Luke Eriksen had no interest in the business. He was out fly fishing one day when his wife called to say, as he remembers it, “I’ve found this property, and I don’t know what I’m going to do with it yet but it’s prime location in Sunderland.”
Kelli Eriksen and her mother, Sandi Waskewic, pursued the idea of creating a healthy eatery and built Wild Roots. “I thought that they were out of their minds,” Luke Eriksen recalled.
At the time, his energy was focused on becoming the third generation to run his family’s furniture manufacturing company called Manchester Wood, which made products for L.L. Bean and Orvis.
But soon after Wild Roots opened in 2017, Kelli was nine months pregnant, and Eriksen, with no food experience whatsoever, was forced to jump in and run the business without his wife. It didn’t take long for him to fall in love with the business.
“I come from manufacturing … and it’s funny because there’s a lot of similarities,” Eriksen said. “It’s all about process. It’s all about widgets and efficiencies, and so it was right in my wheelhouse.”
Now, Eriksen runs Wild Roots almost entirely on his own, even coming up with his own food specials, such as a new hot dog special that will soon launch.
Kelli Eriksen, a hairstylist of around 20 years, runs her own salon, Willoughby Hair Salon, also in Sunderland. And her mother exited the business for retirement just months after opening.
“It just kind of organically trickled into my hands,” Luke Eriksen said.
The Sunderland location proved to be a success, leading Eriksen and his team to branch out to Greenfield.
“It slows down in the winter, so it kind of opens up our brains of like, what else can we do. … We’re very industrious folks, so if there’s downtime, we try to find ways to keep ourselves busy, for better or for worse,” he said.
He had been eyeing Northampton for a while, even coming close to striking a couple of Northampton deals during Wild Roots’ early years. Specifically, he had dreamt of opening a location on King Street. So, when Northampton Athletic Club owner Perry Messer sent him a letter asking for Wild Roots to fill the location, Eriksen said he was “thrilled to do it.”
Tandem Bagel Co., which opened a new location at Stop & Shop down the street, moved out of the athletic club on March 31. That night, Eriksen and his team got to work fixing up the cafe.
“It was fast and furious, man,” Eriksen said. “It’s like a hero’s journey to get there. You go through just darkness … but then you come through the other side and you’re like, ‘Oh man, I’m so grateful,’ and you grow and you get better.”
Wild Roots was up and running three weeks later, by the end of April.
“We tried to give it a homey feel. … We want people to feel comfortable, feel at home, feel relaxed,” he said. “A lot of places can feel kind of sterile, corporate, like a machine line, and we really try to break that up with an element of home.”
He added that Messer has been supportive during the process of opening.
“I think our food goes great with a gym,” Eriksen said, “so I felt immediately more collaborative.
“And I really want people to know that … there’s a lot of cooking happening here,” he added. “We try to minimize microwave stuff and things of that nature. … It’s simple, good food.”
Wild Roots is open Tuesday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at its Northampton location at 306 King St. For more information, visit wildrootseatery.com.
