CHICOPEE – Over the years, Jonathan Evans has seen other natural apothecaries come and go. He has seen Internet businesses threaten his shop.

Despite the market pressures, The Herbarium, the store started by his wife Kathy Duffy, is marking its 40th anniversary.

“We’ve survived the Internet. We’re still here,” he told Reminder Publications.

Evans attributed the long-time success of the business to two major factors: customer service and knowledge of the products the shop sells.

“It boils down to trust,” he said.

Both Evans and Duffy have never promoted herbal remedies as replacements to traditional medicine, but rather a complementary therapy.  “Go see your doctor,” he advises his customers.

Evan said that Duffy started the business in Northampton. She was at that time a critical care nurse who came to realize the healing power of herbal remedies.

“There is more than what was taught in nursing school,” Evans said.

Evens met Duffy when he booked her as a guest on his talk show on WREB in Holyoke in the 1980s.  She became a regular feature on his program and he recalled with smile having her on the air resulted in the “three easiest hours” he would have as a talk show host as one call followed another.

He would take notes on what she said as he soon learned listeners would call days later wanting to know what she had said. This led to Evans becoming an herbal information specialist later on.

Eventually the relationship went from being one from talk show host and guest to husband and wife, and Evans become more and more involved in the business over the years.

Duffy now spends most of the time traveling the country leading workshops on aromatherapy, a subject for which she has become known nationally. Evans said she teaches the clinical, proper and safe application of essential oils. He is now studying aromatherapy himself.

The result of being in business for 40 years is that now Evans is seeing four generations of people coming into the shop at 264 Exchange St.

“That’s nice to see,” he said.

He marvels at the fact the medicinal effects of plants discovered by people centuries ago has been confirmed by science, as well as the fact the size, shape and color of the plant served as an indication of its power. Evans noted that red hawthorn is a tonic for blood, while appropriately named lungwort aids the respiratory system.

“Science has proved they [the people who first used herbs] were right in the first place,” Evans said.

Mainstream medicine is “slowly but surely realizing there is more to this than old wives’ tales,” he added.

He said there is much misinformation on the Internet about herbal and natural products. He used as one example a case in which a child with a respiratory problem was getting worse due to the misuse of lemon oil. Apparently it was thought lemon oil has Vitamin C – it does not – and the misapplication was irritating the mucus membrane in the esophagus and damaging the liver.

“People naively believe everything is correct [on the Internet],” he said. He and Duffy want their customers to be educated about their natural options.

Through the years, Evans has also seen more and more customers seek help for diabetes, anxiety, digestive issues and general stress.

Interest in help with the last ailment has “really exploded,” he added.

Reflecting on the last 40 years, Evans said, “The reason we’re still here is that they [natural remedies] work.”

For more information, go to www.theherbarium.com.