Sean Kotz | Special to The Roanoke Times

Oasis World Market cashier Chuck Porter assists customer Sofia Midkiff. Since taking over the store last summer, owners Max and Whitney Schuetz have updated the lights and refrigeration system. These registers are the next thing to be updated and replaced.

Back row, from left, Ron Holdren , Max Schuetz, Gary Mitchell and Brantley Ivey. Front row, from left, Mikie Mosser, Whitney Schuetz and Brett Nichols. In the produce section, Max and Whitney Schuetz have installed a water spray and drainage system that helps properly clean the units, keeping the smell pleasant and the displays healthier.

BLACKSBURG -- Oasis World Market, best known in the area as an international foods retailer, is under new management and experiencing a dramatic transformation.

There are physical changes like new lights, new refrigeration and, in a few weeks, a new checkout system.

But the real change, said owners Max and Whitney Schuetz, is in their philosophy: "Eat global. Eat local. Eat well."

The Schuetzes moved to Blacksburg, Max's hometown, from San Francisco, where he was an investment banker and Whitney was a retail manager.

Last summer, they took over full ownership of the store, expanded the international offerings and added locally produced, high-quality food products to consumers.

One of Oasis' most-active vendors is Ron Holdren, known around the Blacksburg Farmers Market as "Farmer Ron."

Holdren is from Giles and supplies fruits and vegetables either through his own greenhouses or through other farmers he represents.

He also sells homemade peanut butter, and self-harvested honey and jams made by his 78-year-old mother in flavors such as strawberry rhubarb and damson plum.

"The first major thing is refrigeration," Holdren said. "For example, I couldn't bring peaches in here before. I could bring in one basket and had to hope they would sell before they went bad."

Now, however, his fruits and vegetables will stay fresh longer, increasing the time for sales.

In the produce section, the Schuetzes have recently installed a water spray and drainage system.

Max Schuetz said the system helps them properly clean the units, keeping the smell pleasant and the displays healthier.

Oasis is also now offering grass-fed meat from area producers including Grayson Natural Foods.

"Our biggest market is actually Washington, D.C.," said Gary Mitchell, the general manager of Grayson Natural Foods, "but our goal is to be as local as possible."

He said that because Grayson County is so rural, the 90-mile distance to Blacksburg is still relatively local.

Grayson beef producer Brantley Ivey agreed and said Oasis is important because the corporate retail food system is rarely open to new distribution models.

"We have to have markets like this," Ivey said. "The grocery store chains are not flexible enough to be able to pencil in a delivery of 50 pounds."

Shadowchase Farm in Craig County produces grass-fed beef as well, though neither group sees the other as competition.

Owner Mikie Mosser provides an array of products from New York strips and rib-eyes to specialties such as tongue, hearts and livers for more exotic recipes.

She has seen a consistent increase in her business at Oasis in just a few months, currently supplying 40 or more pounds of beef weekly.

The thing that most impresses Mosser is the Schuetzes' commitment to keeping a low price point.

"I am floored at what they are able to provide to their consumers at the price they are providing," said Mosser, noting that eating healthy in the mainstream often comes with huge markups.

She also says that the new owners are always looking for win-win situations for producers, consumers and the store itself.

At Max Schuetz's suggestion, she is looking into creating wholesome prepackaged meals from her restaurant, Mikie's 7th in Newport, for sale at Oasis.

Sofia Midkiff of Blacksburg, who shopped at Oasis on and off for years, has returned as a regular customer since the upgrades and changes.

"It's an enormous amount of change," said Midkiff. "I just feel that it is generally cleaner, and the selections are much broader. You know, it's not just Asian food."

Midkiff said she appreciates the local produce, meats, eggs and milk, and the expanded international offerings, especially the German chocolates.

Along with the chocolate comes German beers, as well as Japanese sakes.

"We've tried to source beers that were really, really good," said Max Schuetz, who buys some European beers and stouts by the pallet to keep the price down, often at a volume cost below the most popular domestics.

"But instead of pricing with the kind of markups you'd see at a boutique that normally carry this kind of product, we keep them at a mainstream price."

However, Oasis is also firmly committed to keeping local brews such as Foggy Ridge cider, Blacksnake Mead and Shooting Creek beers and sodas.

Brett Nichols, co-owner and brewer at Shooting Creek brewery in Floyd, said the new approach has been advantageous for his business as a local supplier as well.

Every Saturday, Oasis offers a beer-tasting event, often with a theme, which Nichols attributes to an increase in the volume of his sales there.

"The soda and beer took off a month or so ago after a tasting," Nichols said. "And I'll tell you, Max has got a price point that is knocking the socks off the rest of the area."

Like other local producers, Nichols is on a first-name basis with the owners and the relationship is more like a cooperative than a traditional corporate vendor-buyer arrangement.

"We view our relationship with our vendors as a partnership," said Max Schuetz.

Holdren agreed, noting that Oasis has at times given him temporary refrigeration when he is selling downtown.

In turn, he can send his customers to Oasis to get fresh fruit and vegetables during the week.

"The owners treat us like family," Holdren said, "and like partners in their business."