Feed and seed company owner says cooperative approached him about retailing its products once the decision was made to close Petersburg store
Southern States Cooperative may be closing its western Petersburg farm-supply store next month, but one local business owner says that will not be the end of its iconic business brand in the Tri-City area.
Martin T. Heretick, owner of Heretick Feed & Seed Co., said Friday that his company has agreed to take over Southern States’ product line when the farmer-owned cooperative shutters its 72-year-old West Washington Street store at the end of February. Heretick said Richmond-based Southern States approached him about taking over the product line once they decided to close the Petersburg store.
“We’ve got a store on Bollingbrook Street in Petersburg that’s going take on a majority of that sales line.” Heretick said in a phone interview Friday afternoon. “It would keep the Southern States brand in Petersburg.
“We just wanted to make sure that the word did get out that Southern States is not going away; they’re simply changing locations.”
On Thursday, Southern States announced it would close the Southside Cooperative store in Petersburg because of declining profits. The store, which opened in 1948, serves Petersburg, Emporia, Dinwiddie, Chesterfield and Amelia.
Eight employees work at the Petersburg store. The cooperative said it is working with the affected associates on their employment future.
Heretick said the move by his company to acquire the product line makes sense from a business standpoint since both have been in the Tri-City area about the same length of time. Heretick’s father, Joseph, opened the business in Hopewell 74 years ago and expanded to Petersburg the following year.
“We showed up about the same time that they opened.. We’re kind of like the ’Last of the Mohicans,’” Heretick said, a reference to the title of the title of the 1826 James Fenimore Cooper novel.
Heretick Feed & Seed will begin receiving livestock feed from Southern States in the next week, Heretick said. They will continue to pick up other SS branded items such as garden seeds, field seeds, clover and hay, throughout the month.
“We’ve already got it ordered,” Heretick said. “We just can’t put the ’SS’ on our building until after they close that building.”
Heretick was quick to point out that the deal was not an acquisition of Southern States, just the establishment of a wholesaler relationship between Southern States and Heretick Feed & Seed.
“It’s really not an ending. It’s just a new begnining,” he said. “It will be the same Southern States brands that they’ve always known.
“Bessie the cow can still get her same feed.”
Sean Jones can be reached at 804-722-5172 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @SeanJones_PI
