I haven’t run out of stories, so I’ll continue with the theme of good fortune that’s benefited Ferndale Market over the past 15 years. I think many of you know that the building we call home is our former turkey hatchery, and the changes it’s seen are a walk through our evolution.
Coincidently, we had stopped hatching our own poults in 2007. It had simply become too labor intensive, and we were a very little fish amongst the big guys in the business. So, our hatchery building was sitting idle when we decided to repurpose it into an on-farm local foods store. We paved the driveway, tore down walls, turned truck garages into our front door, and gave the floors a smooth and shiny upgrade.
Initially, we had a test kitchen and small event seating space in the front of the store, but time taught us that our customers weren’t eager to attend cooking classes. And, we needed more display space as our product mix grew. So, we tackled a store remodel in 2018 to better showcase our own turkey products, which had grown in number since our start. In the back store room, we started with one walk-in freezer, then another, then another.
The reconfiguring of our space has given us more space to, well, keep reconfiguring our space! Our goal remains to bring together the best in local, distinctive food, and it turns out that mix has grown dramatically since 2008. We enjoy the constant hunt for new items, while keeping all the tried-and-true favorites. We’ve learned to stay nimble. In fact, we moved some shelves and cases around just last week, so you may need to rediscover the home for some of your favorites on your next visit.
It’s all a part of our effort to keep things fresh, even in a building that’s seen so many changes over its lifetime. We’ve been incredibly fortunate that the hatchery my grandpa built 50 years ago serves as the front door to our farm and market today. As always, we invite you to stop in and see what’s changed!
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