Carter Breland and Ed Elbrecht opened the West Columbia store in February 1991 and in 1996 doubled it's size. The Lexington store is twice the size of the original store and was opened May 2000.  Carter began the macrobiotic diet in 1983 after his doctors gave him no hope that he could beat his cancer.  He ate a strict macrobiotic diet and lived another 14 years. Ed Elbrecht has been eating natural foods since 1980 because it made sense to him.  He and Carter both felt this side of the river needed a complete natural foods store and started 14 Carrot Whole Foods.