Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/523050
Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 361 houses for storage and office space. Judy and Bob purchased the business from Bill and Gaynelle. Most significantly, the store moved out to Route 58, a thoroughfare for travelers going from Maine to Florida. The move enabled The Peanut Patch to gain exposure and soon the shop and its peanuts became a destination outside of the Virginia community. Passing on the Business Feridies' second generation of ownership has been going strong since 2000, when Jane's parents called her and her sister, Alice, to ask if they would want to take on the busi- ness. "Interestingly enough, it was separate conversations, separate phone calls, and we both said we'd come home," Jane remem- bers. And they did—the sisters and their husbands quit their jobs, packed up their lives, and moved home to run Feridies. Once they were together, they found their skill sets were perfect complements to each other. "When we came home, we all had studied different things in school and we all brought certain aspects back to the business," Jane explains. "We all had a place where we sat and it worked out well. I'm not sure that if four people came home and started working in a business that it would ever end up happening again like that." That's not to say that Jane and her family agree all the time. "That would be boring," she says with a laugh. "But we want to instill in our business that whether it is our family or the families of our employees, family comes first always." Staying Confident During Times of Change One of the most significant challenges the second generation has faced was caused by bad timing. In 2007, Feridies decided to "jump off the cliff" and built a 45,000-square- foot manufacturing facility half a mile away from their gift shop. "Our sales were booming and it was the only logical move in an effort to become more efficient and grow our business," Jane explains. But when the economy tanked in 2008, they started to struggle financially. Jane emphasizes that, though it was a dif- ficult time, their strong foundation carried them through and they are now enjoying the benefits of the facility. She's practical in her recollection: "We would have liked to pay it off a little faster, but perseverance is key." Another obstacle was the disappear- ance of the mom-and-pop gift stores that they partnered with for so many years. "We built our business on specialty small busi- nesses, and so, in terms of our wholesale producer profile 58 ❘ SPECIALTY FOOD MAGAZINE specialtyfood.com