Inside, shoppers crowded around bins stacked high with fruits and vegetables, which comprise about one-third of the chain's sales. And pots of fresh herbs, cut flowers, vitamins, bulk foods and vegetarian items lined the aisles of this 28,000-square-foot store, located across the street from Fashion Place Mall.

The store isn't fancy. Brand selections are limited and many grocery items are sold under the private Sunflower label. If the store seems like a lower-cost Wild Oats, perhaps it's because the Boulder, Colo.-based grocery chain is headed by Mike Gilliland. He helped found Wild Oats, which later was acquired by Whole Foods, the world's largest retailer of natural and organic foods.

"There's a tremendous demand for an alternative to the high-price format that's predominated natural foods," Gilliland said Wednesday. "I'm going after the casual people who want to eat healthy, but who thought it's been too expensive."

Gilliland said he wants to educate the casual customer. Free natural foods flyers and information booklets are available at the store's front. The bakery aisle will be cleared periodically for lectures and demonstrations. A back room is available for larger crowds.

But it is low prices that cause Gilliland to boast most. The store's motto, he noted, is "serious food . . . silly prices." Contributing to that image are a couple of promotions: Every Wednesday, ads from the current and past weeks overlap. Shoppers also are given a 10-cent credit for each grocery bag they return to the store.

Bobbi Nielsen, of Taylorsville, said she had never heard of the Sunflower chain, "but the ads caught my eye - and I sure do like the produce prices."

Founded in 2002, Sunflower operates 14 stores in Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. A second Utah store is scheduled to open in September at 1375 S. State St. in Orem.

dawn@sltrib.com

* Where: 6284 S. State St., Murray.

* What: Produce, natural foods store.

* Hours: 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.