“High Vibe is an extension of me — the way I want to live my life," Bob Dagger said. "I love nature, so there are plants and crystals throughout our space. I want the things that are a part of the earth. We are a country store in the city."
Bob Dagger arrived in New York by way of Vermont as a photographer in the early 1990s. His interests transitioned to jewelry, and then music. Yet his final career path was decided when his girlfriend fell ill, and they chose to eat only raw foods, hoping the dietary changes would be more effective than traditional medicine.
Dagger, as he is affectionately called, was never planning on having a health food store. When people started asking why the couple was looking so well, however, he and his girlfriend decided to market some of the products from their apartment in the East Village. After extensive reading, Bob began to lecture on the benefits of raw food and soon realized that he was onto something greater. He moved his business to the basement of a nearby building where he had been working on his music and jewelry. "Back then, it was referred to as the health food speakeasy." For a time, High Vibe was the only one of its kind across the country. Today, Bob continues to do his research, basing his products on science, facts, and experience. "I would have laughed if someone said to me that I would still be doing this some thirty years later."
