They say the only constant is change. I’ve definitely learned that to be true in the world of retail. Or, in the wise words of our first retail clerk, Marlene Willis, “You’ll never figure out retail. If you think you have, it changes!” Yes, we’ve learned quite a bit in our 15 years at Ferndale Market and one of [...]

I think nearly every Midwesterner would agree that this winter carried on at least a month too long, and I rejoice at these great spring days we’re having as I write this. Suddenly, our grass is growing inches a day, the neighborhood frogs are back, and the plant rack has made its annual appearance in front of the market. [...]

I think it’s natural to romanticize farming, or maybe business ownership in general. One of my mottos here is that we should try to solve problems so our customers don’t have to. In today’s business speak, we’re trying to eliminate pain points, so we work hard to make it all look easy. But, as any business owner would tell [...]

Out of nowhere, everybody seems to know the price of a dozen eggs. We’ve grown all-too-accustomed to this by now. The last three years have taught us to lurch from empty shelves to price hikes. Between pandemic-induced supply chain issues, inflation, and changes in our shopping behaviors, we sure spend more time thinking about the complex levers that impact [...]

It seems like one of the recurring themes in my recent podcast feed and reading list has been the so-called urban rural divide. Most interestingly, I seem to bump into this from both sides of the table. I’ll read in an agriculture publication that the urbanites don’t get it, and then I’ll hear on the radio that it’s the [...]

Happy New Year from all of us at Ferndale Market! As we flip our calendars to the New Year, it’s fun to celebrate a few victories from the year that was. Although it wasn’t always smooth sailing (don’t get me started on the high cost of turkey feed these days…), we have a lot to feel proud of at [...]

I always come into our post-Thanksgiving season with a deep feeling of gratitude – for our team, our customers, and the many, many partners it takes to pull it off together. As I often remind our crew here, we almost certainly do more than we’re equipped to do each November, but we manage to make it happen without tumbling [...]

It’s a tremendous relief to reach this Thanksgiving season. While it’s typical for our year to feel somewhat like a mountain climb to the Thanksgiving peak, the relief is heightened this year after the constant worry about avian influenza (“bird flu”). As influenza continued to impact farms both big and small, across all corners of the country, it was [...]