"The heart of Reno has gained a raw foods market and wellness center where residents can learn to eat healthy and detoxify.

Jim and Rochelle Fahlgren and their business partner, Reno lawyer Peter Zulim, opened Rawjuvenation six weeks ago at 350 W. Liberty St., near Arlington Avenue.

The 1,000-square-foot space offers classes and lectures on raw food diets, raw food recipe books, free wireless Internet access, three solar-carbon heated saunas and pre-packaged health food.

"This will give people a place to buy this stuff without buying it online," Jim Fahlgren said. "The health-minded person that lives downtown can come by here and get their goji berries or their cacao powder or agave nectar.

"Sales are really doing good. We're selling about $600 a day on food product," he said.

The addition of a 50-inch plasma television will allow the Fahlgrens to host video chats with naturopathic doctors in faraway places.

"Last week, we had Dr. Ruza Bogdanovich lecture," Jim Fahlgren said. "The turnout was 22 people."

Jim Fahlgren said Bogdanovich, a doctor of naturopathy and nutrition who lives in Minden, talked about the health benefits of a raw-food diet, that is, unprocessed and uncooked plant foods, such as fruit, vegetables, seeds and nuts.

Rochelle Fahlgren has been on a raw food diet for two years. "It's really a passion for me," she said. "I guess you could say it's in my blood."

She comes by the alternative health lifestyle naturally. Her grandmother had a wellness center in downtown Reno for about 25 years, beginning in the 1970s. Rochelle Fahlgren said that Mary Machelite's Health Center offered colonic therapy, massages and steam saunas in an era when those services were not as prevalent as they are today.

Saunas available. The infrared saunas are Jim Fahlgren's favorite aspect of his new business. It's available for people to use on a membership basis, and Rawjuvenation installed a shower on the premises, so that early morning sauna users can detoxify and then wash up before heading to work.

In addition to co-owning Rawjuvenation, Jim Fahlgren owns a FedEx ground route. The FedEx job used to make him sore, he said, until he began sitting in a sauna every evening.

"My back used to kill me every night, (but) my lower back doesn't hurt anymore," he said. "My skin has gotten a lot better, too."

The Fahlgrens have been married 17 years. They live in Stead and have four children.

Jim said Rochelle made a raw food Thanksgiving dinner; the turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie were all made out of nothing but nuts, juice, fruit and vegetables.

"She makes this mock tuna that tastes just like tuna fish," he said.

He also raved about her lasagna, which she makes without noodles or cheese. Rochelle Fahlgren said she uses zucchini in place of pasta and makes cheese from nuts.

Some plans for the business include instituting a monthly potluck, for which people can bring their own raw food dish to share, and a Web-based feature to be called, "Ask Rawsome Rochelle."

Rawjuvenation's Web site, www.rawreno.com, is under construction, but the owners hope that Rochelle Fahlgren can reach people via the Internet by giving advice and answering people's questions about a raw food diet.

The Fahlgrens said people have asked them if they're worried about the coming of a Whole Foods Market, but they said they're not fazed.

"We can stay competitive," Rochelle Fahlgren said. "If people don't want to go all the way down south, they can come here."

Jim agreed. "We carry so much stuff that Whole Foods is never going to carry," he said."