Chichester / New Hampshire / United States
Clarks Grain Store in Chichester, New Hampshire was started in 1942 by Gus Clark, a small poultry farmer. He began the business by gathering bagged feed orders from other local farmers until he had enough for a full rail car. When the freight car arrived, all would drive down to the rail siding in Pittsfield and team up to unload and distribute the feed. In the meantime Gus cleaned out an old hay barn, built a small loading dock with an office for himself and began selling feed by the bag right on the farm. The business grew steadily with Gus adding other farm supplies and a delivery service. In the 1950s Gus turned the business over to a key employee, Arthur Hurd, and retired. Arthur promptly expanded into the bulk feed business serving mostly poultry farms. As the poultry industry declined he began to concentrate more on selling bulk dairy fee. In 1980 Arthur sold the business to us. During the early 1980s dairy business declined due to a government buy-out program and stiff competition from larger dairy states. Ever changing, the business now serves small farms, backyard farmers, horse and pet owners, and the lawn and garden needs of home owners. Shortly after buying the business, we moved the store to its present location out to Route 28, a much heavier traveled road. A year or so later we built another store on Route 16 in Ossipee. Both stores are very active and growing. A daughter, Nancy has joined the business along with her husband Jeremy. This fits very nicely as we look towards slowing down and eventually retiring. Though there are bound to be changes, we believe the future is bright for both stores. Sadly we are losing farms but we are gaining people. That adds up to more customers.
