The Benefit of Virtual Events During a Pandemic with Beth from Most Feed
Participants:
Francesca Halberg – General Manager/CPO of New Media Retailer
Beth Garrison – Product Manager of Most Feed
Video Transcript
Francesca (00:02):
Hello. Thank you so much for joining me for the New Media Retailer podcast. My name is Francesca. I am super excited to be joined today with Beth Garrison, the product manager from Most Feed. Hi, Beth. How are you?
Beth (00:16):
I’m doing very well, Francesca. Thank you.
Francesca (00:19):
Thank you so much for joining us today. I’m excited to talk. Let’s kick it off. Tell me a little bit about your business. How long have you guys been there? And where are you located?
Beth (00:31):
Okay. We were Crete, Illinois, so we’re about 35 miles south of the city of Chicago. It was established in 1990. The name changed to Most Feed in 1999 when he bought the existing Roth Hatchery. We are a feed store. We do actually deliver and handle horse, chicken and dog products. We have a lawn and garden section. We we still do the baby chicks. Those will be coming the end of this month. We actually do help people with any of their farm questions. We are known here for our expertise and we just have the one location.
Francesca (01:13):
How long have you been with the store?
Beth (01:16):
I’ve been here for over 15 years now. Going on 16.
Francesca (01:20):
Yeah. Now I have talked to a few other feed stores on the podcast. And chicks always is a little bit of an interesting conversation, I feel like, because of COVID. And so tell me if this is your guys’ experience as well? Did you have a lot of new interest in chicks and poultry and stuff in the past few years since COVID started?
Beth (01:41):
Definitely.
That’s so interesting.
Home hobby.
Yes. People wanna have their own little farm.
Francesca (01:49):
So now that, we’re, we’re two years into this, have a lot of those people been successful and now they’re coming back for the third season of chicks?
Beth (02:00):
Yeah. They’re like potato chips. So I think I probably do more with the chickens and and the horse people, but I mean, those are the big money makers, and that’s what, you know, we really focus our attention on. Yeah. But when the chicken people come in for the baby chicks, they take a lot of time and effort and it gets a little nutty around here.
Francesca (02:22):
Yeah. I believe it, I believe it. What new things are you guys doing at the store? I mean, I know we’re still early into 2022. So maybe you wanna talk about new things that kind of started towards the end of last year.
A variety of vendors has kept supply on the shelves
Beth (02:38):
So basically we’re expanding the lawn and garden.
Oh, wow.
So, you know, retail works a little different. We don’t get things in spring. We get them during winter for spring, so we’re prepared. I actually have some buying shows and my manager has been doing her buying shows. I’m more of the product manager, so I handle more of like a specialty section, but yeah, she oversees, you know, setting up areas and bringing the new product in and we have boxes on boxes already coming.
Francesca (03:08):
Wow. That’s awesome. Now obviously like, you know, it’s not a secret, a lot of these conversations I’ve had with stores have been about issues with getting products on the shelves. Have you guys found that to be difficult when looking to expand your lawn and garden department, or has lawn and garden kind of been a little different than other departments?
Beth (03:28):
Oh no. She’s had the same difficulties, same issue. Yeah. We have a variety of vendors, so that helps. So when one kind of goes down in the product, she can kind of switch to a different one. We find similar areas and closeout sales and different things so we can keep products in stock.
Francesca (03:49):
Yeah. Yeah. That makes total sense. Have you guys found that to be tricky, like in terms of training your staff for those kinds of things or have you guys found that somewhat easy to navigate being able to rely on other suppliers?
Beth (04:04):
So we’ve found it pretty easy. We probably are just starting to really feel the impact. So some things have slowed down for us, but we’ve opened other avenues and we do have time still. It’s only February. So I feel by the time we get all our bookings in, things will solely start to integrate and then we’ll have product in stock, but the employees, they actually check in a lot of the products, so they start to learn it as it comes in.
Francesca (04:32):
Oh, got it. Okay. That makes total sense. Total sense. Now, jumping back to the chick things, are you guys doing in-store events or like surrounding chick days, or are you offering online things like those in-store events? Have you found that to be difficult, or is your customer base pretty comfortable with coming in?
Using Facebook Live for events has engaged more customers
Beth (04:51):
A lot of our advertising and meetings are through Facebook.
Oh, cool.
To be, you know, the most interactive site. We obviously keep the website up to date and I find that the numbers are taking off with the people that are participating and subscribing to the website. So as long as we keep it fresh and new, it seems like everybody still has a big interest.
Francesca (05:14):
Yeah, absolutely. Talk to me a little bit about what you guys are doing on Facebook with interactive events. I feel like some other stores would really benefit from hearing, that maybe haven’t tried that approach yet.
Beth (05:26):
Oh yeah. So I’m not much on Instagram, but I do like the Facebook page, and we actually do the Crete community, and it reaches more people, but as soon as we post ourselves versus going through anybody, it actually reaches more people. So if we have any kind of event or sales or, you know, chickens coming in, we always post a week or two ahead of time.
Francesca (05:49):
Awesome. Are you holding like in-person seminars or are you doing those virtually as well?
Beth (05:55):
We’ve been doing them virtual. The numbers have been ticking down, and they’re talking about lifting restrictions slowly.
Okay.
But until that actually goes into effect, we’ll still have to do virtual.
Francesca (06:06):
And have you been relying on Facebook for those virtual events?
Beth (06:10):
Yes, but you know, there are incentives that people can come into the store and pick up for joining the meeting.
Francesca (06:19):
Awesome. How have you guys found those to be? Have your customers shared feedback about that process and like it versus in-store?
Beth (06:27):
You know, a lot of people like it. They actually like to be at home versus, you know, having to worry about controlling the kids and keeping everybody separate.
Yeah.
And then you don’t have to be here at eight, nine o’clock at night,
Francesca (06:39):
Also a benefit. That is a benefit for sure. Awesome. That’s very cool. So you guys are launching like Facebook live videos and hosting them that way?
Beth (06:51):
Yes. Yeah. We usually have a horse owner’s workshop and a chicken owner’s workshop that we do this time, and that’s tied in directly with Purina. So we usually have one of their representatives and in-store speakers to kind of let them know any kind of specials and then PR will actually do like an informative kind of meeting.
Francesca (07:11):
Cool. That’s super cool. I’ve obviously seen, you know, some of those events tied in with manufacturer lectures on Facebook, but I do think that that is something that not every store has taken advantage of yet. So I definitely think that’s an interesting way where, as COVID numbers are still going up and down and new variants and things like that, it is a really interesting opportunity to see “How can I still, you know, continue and you to engage with my audience? We used to do these in-person events, how can I take that virtual?” And then, like you said, there are benefits to being in the comfort of your own home and not having to stay so late too. So yeah, that’s really interesting. I’m super glad you guys have benefited from that.
Beth (07:58):
Yeah. Purina has a retail product specialist and they actually receive incentive, you know, monetary and points. So that actually works to our benefit.
Francesca (08:11):
Awesome. Very cool. Along those lines, obviously doing virtual events has had a major impact on your business because of COVID. Have there been other impacts because of COVID or like direct changes to your store that you guys have kind of had to get creative or navigate through?
Curbside pickup has kept them competitive with big box stores’ supply chain issues
Beth (08:31):
We deal with a lot of phone calls and, you know, the curbsides. So it’s a person ordering, and then the person calling to tell us that they’re here. You know, they’re calling to check to see if it is in, you know, and once they decide what their order is, they call back. So yeah, we get a lot of phone calls.
Francesca (08:47):
Do you get a lot of new types of customers as well? I mean, we talked about chicks a little bit, so I guess that might answer it, but new types of like interests and things like that?
Beth (09:01):
Definitely, you know, like with the supply chain, Chewy isn’t always able to deliver, you know, so then they try local shopping for change and they find out that they’re pretty happy with what we have, or our frequent buyer program with some of the dog foods. So they could buy eight bags of Exclusive and get a nice bag free. Signature is another dog food that does that. You could buy 12, get a free bag. So it’s worth it in the long run, and they don’t have to pay any kind of shipping or try to give free shipping or have a heavy bag delivered. We actually load it for them when they get to the store.
Francesca (09:41):
Awesome. Yeah. I mean, there are so many ways to be more competitive than some of these, you know, national ones, whether they’re brick and mortars or online retailers. So obviously frequent buyer programs are a really, really good opportunity to take advantage of for sure. What are some of the biggest challenges you guys are maybe facing right now?
Beth (10:07):
The biggest challenges is staying warm.
Francesca (10:12):
I’m right there with you.
Beth (10:14):
We have a lot of delivery to flip and flop, and just keeping everybody happy. Just making sure our new customers are dealt with on a consistent basis. You know, just the tackles of weather just to make sure the bulk trucks can get into the farms. Staff availability has been pretty good, so we’ve been covered on all fronts and just watching out that we don’t get burnt out, and keeping it so that we’re all rested and healthy.
Francesca (10:47):
Absolutely. What categories are you guys seeing the most growth in right now?
Beth (10:54):
Definitely, like I said, our horse section. Lawn and garden is very specialty, and a lot of people have been coming our way. We are tied in with Baltimore farms, there’s a local Florist and they go ahead and they put flowers out in the front and they have like a whole garden center, so it really opens up the avenue for people to get hands on and do things at home while we’re all kind of waiting this thing out.
Francesca (11:18):
Yeah. That’s awesome. That’s very cool. I know you had mentioned obviously specifically expanding lawn and garden, but are there other changes you guys have made? Maybe you stopped selling certain types of products, or additional new things you guys are looking into, maybe just your product mix has changed as a result of the world over the past few years?
Helping more people do things from home
Beth (11:42):
I mean, instead of all of our premium horse feeds, we’ve kind of downgraded cause there was a grainery that went pretty much out of business. They just went to a trucking fleet. They stopped doing their mill. So we brought in an all-stock feed and we kept the price lower so we can entice more people over winter to stay with us and start again in spring.
Francesca (12:06):
Okay. Awesome. Very cool. How has technology helped your business? Over the past few years, obviously being able to stay connected to customers through Facebook has been great.
Beth (12:21):
True. Yeah. We have done that. We haven’t really done any kind of online ordering. It’s easier for us to do it over the phone.
Okay.
So we haven’t like really posed pricing cause since we are a commodities market, it’s harder to post pricing since they change so often.
Got it.
And then you know, a lot of things have really jumped up in price more than anything. So we just try to be as competitive as we can and be pricing. But we put in new credit card machines, and there’s a tap option. We give people a lot more touchless options than we used to have.
Francesca (12:57):
Got it. Yeah. That makes total sense. What are like some of the biggest threats you see facing independent retailers right now?
Beth (13:08):
You know, a lot of the online shopping hit us a little bit with people doing Amazon. So I’m kind of happy to hear when they can’t get product or it takes too long. We do a lot of special ordering, so we try to get product if we’re too small to carry everything on the shelf for.
Francesca (13:34):
You mentioned 35 miles from Chicago, so describe like your guys’ geographic area where you are. Do you have a lot of physical, brick and mortar competitors in your town?
Beth (13:46):
No, not very close to us. You’d have to go over the Indiana border further south from us.
Okay.
So we’re half rural, half residential. My boss actually does farm, and you know, we have farm fields around us and we used to have the Memorial Race Track down the street. It’s a lot to do with why his location is where it is.
Got it.
But we’re pretty much a straight shot south. So people that are looking for like a particular dog food that they want from the city or they have their horse farms out here but live in the city, it’s pretty easy, you know, we’re right along 394 and 57.
Francesca (14:28):
Got it. What is the population of the town you guys are in?
Beth (14:35):
The population of Crete?
Francesca (14:37):
Yeah. Are you like a smaller town or are you guys like more on the bigger side? Is it a city?
Beth (14:49):
No, it’s not a city.
Francesca (14:50):
Got it. So who are some of the biggest competitors you would identify? I mean, obviously you mentioned Amazon, you’ve mentioned Chewy. Are those the people you have your eye on now or are there others?
Beth (15:04):
We actually have somebody down the street. They’re a little bit different type of horse feed. So, you know, they get some customers in, but then we’ve had comments where they come to try our all-stock feed and they won’t eat the food that, you know, they were previously buying from the other dealer. So we were pretty happy to hear that. It says the population is a little over 8,000,
Francesca (15:31):
A little over 8,000. Okay, cool. That’s helpful. Just to, you know, obviously to create a visual a little bit. What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in your guys’ industry at this point? Whether that’s, you know, more equine, whether that’s more poultry, what are some of the biggest changes you guys have seen?
Beth (15:53):
So what we’ve seen is that we just have to have an abundance of products for being a smaller store. The more we have available and more, you know, we can specialize, the more interested our customers are staying with us.
Francesca (16:07):
Gotcha. That makes total sense. Obviously that does come with, you know, training your staff to be well versed in a range of products. Has that come somewhat naturally? Or have there been challenges along those lines?
A variety of products and well trained staff keep customers coming back
Beth (16:23):
Honestly, a lot of our employees know some of the customers that come in already. They’re familiar with the animals and some of the nutritional needs, and then they learn a lot from just watching, you know, some of the more senior staff working and talking with the employee or the customers.
Francesca (16:42):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Something I’ve talked to other stores about is their older staff is looking to retire, and trying to, you know, get the institutional knowledge that kind of sits with those employees and sharing that with the masses. Is that something you guys have encountered or not yet?
Beth (17:04):
You know, I’d love to sit with my manager more in the office and go through some of the paperwork that she does just to try to ask her ways to get it done, but at least get a base off of her, you know, and her, methods for just keeping things organized and flowing for the financial end. You know, just the background works versus, you know, dealing with the customer up front.
Francesca (17:29):
Got it. Yep. That makes total sense. What do you think the store will look like five years from now? What do you think would be different?
Beth (17:37):
He wants to update the outside and the front has been, you know, redone. We wanna go ahead and do like a new floor kind of and make it a little bit newer looking.
Yeah, very cool.
And we’ve switched over areas to give, you know, the bigger moving products more space. So we’ve been pretty good about doing that. And we have, you know, an area where when the lawn and garden isn’t active, we can go ahead and do other gift areas and Christmas time.
Francesca (18:14):
Yeah, that’s awesome. Super. It sounds like you guys are super quick to adapt and kind of make changes, even if they’re physical ones inside the store to accommodate the ebbs and flows of what’s going on.
Beth (18:25):
Yeah, definitely. We brought in some lock casing for some of the products that are a little more expensive and easier to showcase. So, you know, we don’t have to worry about people sneaking off with anything.
Francesca (18:39):
I actually just have one question left for you. Okay. If you could give a piece of advice to someone who’s maybe in a similar position as yours who’s just getting started, what advice would you give them?
Beth (18:53):
Just to go with their gut feeling try to treat the customer how you would like to be treated. Always be honest with them. You know, leave an avenue open to find out information for them or the product for them and just give them ways that they can accomplish what they’re looking for or be that person that they can come to for that answer.
Francesca (19:15):
Awesome. That is great advice, Beth. Thank you so much for your time today.
Beth (19:21):
Oh, no problem. Thank you.
Francesca (19:23):
Yeah. Thank you everyone for checking out the New Media Retailer podcast. Be sure to check back soon.