In the Community & Drivable Around the Corner: Dave Thomas & Health Hut Wellness Center

The Health Hut Wellness Center unavoidably rests across from Packard Park at 3304 Fairfield Ave.; it’s that pyramid-lookin’ building that was once the old People’s Bank.  In another life, it could be a time machine that looks bigger on the inside.  Dave Thomas, Health Hut co-proprietor, gutted and renovated the aged-by-neglect building that was originally built in the early ’70s.   Thomas even tracked down the original architect.  Included in the 9-month renovations were the installation of a new heating and cooling system, all new lighting, and the building of a separate room, partitioned from the main floor, that will be utilized for massage therapy.  (Thomas is a licensed massage therapist.)

With their grand opening on November 9, 2019, replete with free product sample as quantities last, Health Hut will sell organic, natural health products, straight out of 07 zip.  “Fort Wayne is the second largest city in Indiana and there’s not a [central] place to get shea butter,” he said.  Thomas is a transplant from a bigger-market city…he came to Fort Wayne back in ’95…so he was used to bigger-market accessibility.  There’s been talk of food deserts but what about the health product deserts?  “As an enterprising person, I have two things: to help the community and provide [it] with basic all-organic, natural health products,” Thomas said.

Health Hut will offer organic and naturals whipped shea butter, 40 flavors of whipped shea butter (including unscented), organic essential oils, shampoos, lotions, and CBD products (including edibles).  “We’re looking for local vendors,” Thomas said.  For the uninitiated, CBD is all-natural chemical compound from the cannabis plant that, in a nutshell, soothes the central nervous system.  “When the body is at its equilibrium [without anxiety, for example], it’s able to heal at its most efficient,” Thomas said, who’s also certified as a CBD retailer. 

Thomas has partnered with college roommate Dr. Scott E. Henry.  “We were both excited to give back,” the entrepreneur said.  The response to natural, organic products so far has been positive, according to Thomas, “but people have to be educated.”  Educational workshops are planned, and pop-in inquiries are encouraged.

Take hemp, for example.  It’s taken a credibility hit because of its association with marijuana.  But “hemp is a natural plant,” said Thomas, who, while growing up in Mississippi, he used to see the plant growing wild in fields. “It was part of the ecosystem.  And after wild game would eat it, it became part of our ecosystem.  It made homeostasis (equilibrium) more efficient.”

Thomas spoke about taking advantage of the city’s façade grant program and the services offered by the Build Institute Fort Wayne program.  If the state of Indiana ever goes in on medical marijuana (and that’s seriously being considered at the state legislative level), then the Health Hut entrepreneur is right there in place for the explosion.  “I’m building a system,” Thomas said.  Not planting a seed but planting a tree.

Dave Thomas, Health Hut Wellness Center

3304 Fairfield Avenue

Fort Wayne, IN 46807

Phone: 260.312.2252

Website: HealthHutWellnessCenter.com

Email: HealthHutWellnessCenter@gmail.com