In the 21st century, it’s becoming increasingly frightening to watch as towns all begin to look alike, with the same national chains and suburban sprawl bleeding into the countryside. It seems there’s a Starbucks on every corner and Wal-Marts cropping up in once-pristine pastures wherever you look.

At least in Lawrence we’re lucky enough to have preserved our unique downtown and its specialty shops. Still, many area residents have never discovered the charm of our local feed and farm stores.

Such stores are true bastions of our humble beginnings in the retail world, but some folks believe these establishments have nothing to offer anyone outside the farming or 4-H communities.

That’s just not true.

One of the original feed and farm stores in Lawrence was in the 800 block of Vermont Street, where there’s now a parking lot. Locals knew it as the Douglas County Hatchery, owned by Roy Cadwell. The hatchery didn’t have a grain elevator, so most of its feed was brought in from a local or regional grain elevator. The business did, however, hatch chickens on the premises and provided much-needed food supplies for livestock and other animals.

Situated on a prominent Lawrence corner, the hatchery was probably one of the most frequently visited retail businesses around. It eventually moved to the corner of Sixth and Wisconsin streets in 1956. Back then, the intersection lay near the city limit, making it more accessible for farmers running to town for feed.

Almost 60 years later, Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply sits on that same lot.

“Everyday someone comes in to the store that has never been here,” says owner Roger Tuckel. “They will comment that they have lived in Lawrence for 20 years and just kept driving by or didn’t even notice our building. Once here, however, they seem to be pleasantly surprised and genuinely glad that they finally stopped in.”

Changing with the times

Roger Tuckel, owner of Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply, 545 Wis., chats with customers at the store on Monday. New shoppers often are pleasantly surprised by what they find at the store, Tuckel says.

Orscheln Farm & Home Supply, 1541 E. 23rd St., has had the same battle with Lawrence shoppers. Even store manager Richard Corum admits he drove by the store for years and never noticed it.

So how do these time-honored Lawrence establishments survive?

“We have had to expand out into other retail aspects as the farming profession has decreased, and we have become more appealing to the mainstream public,” Corum says.

Although a cowbell still signifies the arrival of a new customer as they walk through the door, and the aroma of pet food and motor oil wafts through the air, Orscheln customers are no longer shopping at the feed and farm of yesteryear. Today’s stores offer an array of products, from designer dog food to horse and hog feed to flannel pajama bottoms.

“People will definitely be amazed at all of the products we carry,” Corum says. “It is pretty close to a one-stop shop for folks. But we still stay true to the food aspect with our birdseeds and dog foods.”

Sow ears and pig ears are just a few of the items for sale at Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply, 545 Wis.

Locally owned

Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply offers bulk items as well. Customers can purchase dog biscuits, birdseed and grass seed by the scoop. They can also mix and match.

“You can concoct your own mixtures of grass seed and birdseed for both outside birds and domestic,” Tuckel says. “In fact, we have one customer who came in here in 1979 and handed me a recipe for bird feed. He asked me to make it and have it available for him from here on out.

“I did, and it has been a great seller ever since.”

Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply has an entire room devoted to designer dog and cat food, with prices that are extremely competitive.

“People want their pets to eat healthy just like any other member of the family, and we have the type of healthy dog and cat food that you can’t purchase at a grocery store,” Tuckel says.

One of the most appealing facets of feed and farm stores peppered throughout the United States is that most of them are owned by local families, which tends to lead to great pride in customer service and accountability for providing patrons with accurate and knowledgeable information.

Retail relic

The Orscheln chain is a family-run business headquartered in Moberly, Mo. The first store was in Sedalia, Mo.

“Many of the items sold here are made in Kansas or Missouri,” Corum says. “If there is an availability of a Midwestern manufacturer, we like to use them. It is about family and service and helping our community.”

At Lawrence Feed & Farm Supply, every one of Tuckel’s kids has worked behind the counter.

“Most of my kids have helped out at one time or another,” he says. “Even my mother worked here in 1978 until about 1985 or 1986. Before that she helped run Vernon’s Hardware Store in downtown Lawrence. Point being, if you ask anyone here a question, they should be able to answer it and probably have even had some hands-on experience with the product.”

So next time you’re in need of some grass seed, your pet food is down to a few select nibbles or you’re conquering a household project, you might consider poking your head into a local feed and farm store to pick up the supplies you need.

They’re relics of a bygone retail experience, but with all the modern products consumers have come to expect.

Jennifer Oldridge, a Kansas University graduate, is an avid gardener who previously operated a landscaping business.