Everybody’s Whole Foods ensures everybody feels welcome

FAIRFIELD — Pay a visit to Everybody’s Whole Foods in Fairfield and you’ll notice that the business flies a number of flags on its building and from the light poles in its parking lot.

These flags include a Pride flag, a Transgender Pride flag, a Black Lives Matter flag, a Ukrainian flag and American flags. Everybody’s owner Nathan Gamet said he wanted to explain why the business does this, since customers ask about it occasionally.

Gamet said the flags were prompted by a tragedy from a few years ago, when a transgender employee committed suicide. He and co-owner Paul Praither talked about how they should respond to such a devastating event.

“Paul and I felt really bad about it, and we wanted to do more,” Gamet said. “We felt like putting these flags out would show that Everybody’s is a welcoming place. We wanted to make sure everyone feels welcome, to make that more explicit.”

Gamet said they started putting the flags out seasonally, but they have become a permanent fixture at the business. He said most customers don’t mention the flags to him, but he’s heard from some who view the display as political.

“That’s not how I see it at all,” he said. “I see it as being supportive to those people who are less represented in our community and showing them respect.”

Gamet said he’s always heartened when he hears from customers who appreciate the flags.

“I think our employees feel the same way,” he said. “We have a lot of LGBTQ employees who work for us, and they feel welcome working here and seeing that their business supports who they are.”