SEQUIM — In recent weeks, owners of Nash’s Organic Produce have begun reducing the size and scope of their farm store.
“We have had a wonderful eight years as a full grocery, but in the end, our location worked against us, and we have not been able to make it pencil out,” said Patty McManus, co-owner of the store at 4681 Sequim-Dungeness Way, with husband Nash Huber, in a newsletter to supporters of the farm.
“For a while the uphill battle was challenging and invigorating, but it has become apparent this past year that we must change our business model.”
In an interview, McManus said the store isn’t closing.
“We would still like to continue selling our own product,” she said.
The grocery store expansion opened more than eight years ago off Sequim-Dungeness Way.
McManus said they haven’t ordered more grocery items from big suppliers and have condensed the store toward the front.
The store will continue offering Nash’s produce and other local farms’ items, including produce, dairy products and meats.
Nash’s staff will continue to produce grain, flour and pastured pork, too, McManus said.
Right now, Nash’s offers sunchokes, some beets and turnips, small quantities of winter greens like collards and arugula, and carrots in reduced quantities with more to come later in the winter.
“Thank you all for your support and understanding, and your patronage during the past decade,” McManus wrote to supporters. “We love our community and hope to continue to serve it albeit in a smaller way.”
She said they’re still looking to “figure out how we’d like to morph.”
She said they discussed changes with staff and some younger staffers decided to pursue higher education. No cuts were made, McManus said, but no staff are being replaced at this time.
Winter worries
Nash’s experienced a rough winter earlier this year after last February’s record snowfall.
Migrating birds ate 10 acres of spring crops including purple sprouting broccoli (PSB), Italian cauliflower and kale as the snow melted. McManus said the crops were supposed to help them through their hardest time of the year.
Huber also lost years of work conditioning his broccoli and cauliflower for the Northwest climate, McManus said.
“The crop loss from last February affected everything on the farm as the year progressed,” McManus said.
“When the farm couldn’t provide all the produce this last summer as it had in years past, we had to go outside for local produce. The increased expense affected our bottom line.”
To help counter the damage, 505 donors gave more than $41,000 toward an online campaign to support the farm at 1865 E. Anderson Road.
Along with the damaged crops, McManus said increasing minimum wage costs have made it difficult to operate the grocery store, too.
“We cannot afford a full staff anymore, and that means less produce coming off the farm,” she said.
The reduced-in-size farm store remains open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. seven days a week in the winter.
Nash’s produce also is sold at Country Aire Natural Foods Market in Port Angeles, the Port Townsend Food Co-Op, and the U-District and Ballard farmers markets in the Seattle area.
For more information, see www.nashsorganicproduce.com or call the store at 360-683-4642 or the farm at 360-681-7458.
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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.
Editor’s note: Reporter Matthew Nash has no affiliation with Nash’s Organic Produce.