More from the plant based plumber

A few months ago, John the Plumber shared with us the benefits he's experienced from a plant-based diet along with his association with the Natural Market here in town. Well, John and his wife have decided to take this commitment to plant-based eating even a step further and open their own place.

"The market was a great place to be, for Sarah and I," John said, "but it wasn't completely plant based. We are so committed to showing folks how healthy and delicious plant-based eating can be that we decided to branch off and do our own thing."

From that decision, the idea for the Healthy Hippie Trading Co. and Vegan Pleasin' Café & Coffee Shop was born.

Taking a dream from an idea to reality doesn't happen overnight but John and Sarah are up to the challenge.

"We originally set an opening date for the store portion for August 1 but we've run into some issues getting the carpet out of the place so now our goal is to open before Mountain Fest., which is the third weekend of August," Sarah said. "The other complication is that the building doesn't have a kitchen so John will be doing a lot of the remodeling. I have to work around his plumbing customers so that means it's going to take a while longer before the kitchen is open."

What exactly will they be selling at the Healthy Hippie Trading Company?

"We will have a variety of imported clothing, accessories, crystals, oils, books and more. Our vibe is definitely inspired by the 'hippie culture' of the 60s and 70s, minus the drugs," Sarah laughs. "I'm a huge tea drinker and it's always been a dream of mine to sell quality bulk teas, so we will be offering tea and coffee along with nutritious, plant-based treats, many of which will be gluten free, as well."

"Opening a place like this was something we had been planning to do in another state," John said. "We've been visiting other areas over this past year looking for the perfect place to live and start a new business when we realized how much we love Tehachapi, so why not stay and open the business here? Sure, the politics of California make being a small business owner pretty tough but we believe we can make this happen. This also means I can continue to run John the Plumber and be there for existing and new plumbing customers a lot longer than we were thinking."

Healthy Hippie Trading Co. will be opening up in 20418 Brian Way, Unit 2, directly across from Kelley's Café and Chuckwagon Grill in Old Town. Stay tuned for announcements of their grand opening!

For your plumbing needs, John the Plumber can be reached at (661) 823-8031.