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Todd Pearce had a feeling it might work. Just a gut feeling, mind you, that his hometown might be a good place to open another Farmers Co-op.
Pearce has been general manager of the Houston County Farmers Exchange in Dothan for going on 10 years. For most of those years, he has commuted the 35 miles from Donalsonville, a small Georgia town with a need for more commerce.
“I’d been wanting to open a store up here for three or four years,” Pearce said. “There’s really nothing like it within
a 30-mile radius. The closest one was in Dothan."
While
there are a few local farm supply stores, most are not oriented toward
ranch supplies and are, instead, primarily lawn and garden oriented.
Thus the idea for a new store to serve the underserved was born.
Pearce
pitched his new store idea to AFC management in Decatur. Everyone saw
potential. And
Pearce had just the right location, a 6,000-square-foot metal building
with a four-acre lot on the west side of town. The building was the
former site of a Ford tractor dealership.
Seminole
County Cooperative opened at 720 West Crawford St., in February. Prior
to that time, many customers were driving to Dothan or Thomasville for
equipment like cattle gates and fencing that wasn’t sold locally.
"These
things were just not available over there," Pearce said.
Store
manager Jarrott Mock said business has been fairly good over the last
six months. The store has about 200 customers and has the potential to
double or triple that figure because the area is heavy agricultural and
cattle is king in this part of southwest Georgia. The town also has a
stockyard.
Inventory
is driven by customer need. "We have the feed to feed just about
anything," Mock said. "Rabbits, catfish, dogs, cats, horses,
goats, chickens, cattle, hogs … most of our sales are for the cattle
industry."
One
of the biggest sellers since they opened has been bulk soyhull pellets.
A continuing drought has forced many ranchers to look for an alternative
food source as pastures have been stripped and hay is in short supply.
"We’ve
sold more than 150 tons of soyhull in three months," said Mock, who
attended Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College in Tifton, GA. The store
makes regular deliveries of the soybean byproduct to area farmers.
Pearce
said the layout of the building allows for appropriate display and
shelving areas for the store’s approximately 2,000 items, ranging from
tack and hand tools to pet supplies and pesticides. The store also sells
animal traps, ropes, vaccines, salt, molasses, fencing supplies – just
about anything needed on a ranch.
"If
somebody comes in here and wants something and we don’t have it, we
can start carrying it for him," Mock said.
Pearce
said he hopes to see business continue to grow as area producers learn
that the store exists. His target market area is Miller, Seminole and
Early counties.
"We
are pleased with the support we have received, but we could do
better," he said. "Business is growing every month and we had
a real good June and July. We’re coming out of a crawl, going into a
walk. We hope by this time next year we’re in a full run."
The
Co-op is using direct mail flyers and is making personal sales calls to
area ranchers as a means of becoming known. Pearce is also doing a
couple of community involvement projects to help gain that exposure as
well as becoming an active part of the community.
The
Co-op purchased two show calves for the local Future Farmers of America
chapter at Seminole County High School. Two students, Kale King and
Nicole Sheffield, who did not have access to livestock, will show the
calves at local and regional shows.
AFC
also donated feed and equipment for the project. The calves are kept
near the Co-op.
"This
is giving these two kids an opportunity to do something they normally
would not have had the chance to do," Pearce said.
The
store is also planning a Sportsman’s Night Out for early fall. The
Co-op plans to beef up its hunting supply inventory and will invite area
vendors to the event to give locals a one-stop shopping and look-see of
most everything a hunter needs before hitting the woods.
Managing
the Co-ops is close to Pearce’s heart. He was raised on a farm in
nearby Jakin, GA.
"I
enjoy selling livestock equipment and messing with animals," he
said as his black lab, Taco, jumps in the truck to accompany him on
rides back and forth from Dothan to Donalsonville.
"With
this new store, you get in your mind you want to try something. There’s
no guarantee it will or won’t work, but I just had a gut feeling it
will work."
The
store, which employs four, is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday
through Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. The
telephone number is (229) 524-5321.
Debbie
Ingram is a freelance writer living in Dothan. She can be reached at dingram47@sw.rr.com.
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