New owner wants Syracuse Crate to include more local favorites

CLAY — Syracuse Crate, a six-year-old online retailer of gift boxes that include products made in Central New York, has a new owner who has plans to expand the offerings.

It’s a method for people and businesses to ship the area’s “iconic” foods around the world, says Thomas Connors, sole owner of Syracuse Crate. 

“There’s an emotional attachment to things [such as] Hofmann’s Hot Dogs and Hinerwadel’s salt potatoes,” says Connors, a 1993 graduate of Bishop Ludden High School.

Connors spoke with the Business Journal News Network on Nov. 13. 

Syracuse Crate is a way for someone in Alaska to share a salt potato or for someone in North Carolina to share Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans. Its Facebook page describes Grandma Brown’s Baked Beans as the “pride of Mexico, N.Y.”

“It’s a great way to bring the best of Central New York to the rest of the world,” says Connors.

Even though Syracuse Crate has mostly featured food items, Connors wants to add other cultural items to the package options, such as an historic Syracuse calendar or a compilation CD with songs from local artists.

“It started off as a food thing but I want to grow it into a Central New York cultural package,” he says. 

Operations
After purchasing Syracuse Crate in June, Connors handled all operations from his home in the town of Camillus. That included acquiring supplies, keeping track of online orders, and assembling the orders by hand in his basement, he says. 

“My plan was, in a year, to outsource it to a fulfillment company where they would be able to house all the inventory, [and] I [would] just keep them stocked,” says Connors.

One day he was visiting Pioneer Warehousing & Distribution in Clay, where Pastabilities, a restaurant in Syracuse’s Armory Square area, stores its Hot Tomato Oil, an item that Syracuse Crate includes in one of its crate packages.

That same day, Pioneer’s management asked if Connors needed any help with his fulfillment efforts.

“I’m at that point because I’m spending four or five hours per day, running around, trying to build crates, and hurrying up trying to get them to UPS in time to make the cut off [for shipping],” Connors recalls explaining to Pioneer management.

After a few meetings on the topic, he described the packing and shipping process and Pioneer provided him a flat rate per order, which he declined to disclose.

Connors has an agreement to use 500 square feet of space at Pioneer’s facility, and they’ll discuss a different rate once he exceeds the agreed-upon space allotment, he says.

Connors added Pioneer to Syracuse Crate’s operations in September, he says.

Purchasing the business
Connors first became familiar with Syracuse Crate after reading a newspaper article about it in 2008. 

“I just thought it was an amazing idea,” says Connors.

He would buy the products and take them with him when he was living in both New York City and later Philadelphia after graduating from Fordham University in 1997.

When he returned to the area in 2007, he would perform music at local venues, such as Kitty Hoynes in Armory Square. While doing so, he met Luke Naughton, who originally launched Syracuse Crate, and the two developed a “great friendship,” says Connors. 

The two started discussions in late 2013 about Connors leaving his position as manager of domestic-transportation services at Mohawk Global Logistics and helping with the operation of Syracuse Crate. 

“In the spring, Luke informed me that he was going to be leaving Kitty Hoynes and opening …the Pale and Bucket … and he wasn’t going to have time for Syracuse Crate,” says Connors. 

Naugthon told Connors he could sell the business to him or to someone else. The two worked out a deal that would make Connors the next owner. 

“I had great visions for it immediately,” he says. 

Connors declined to disclose how much he paid to purchase the company, but indicated he used his own money to complete the transaction.

He left his previous job at Mohawk Global Logistics in June, he adds.

Generating sales
Connors believes Syracuse Crate has, up until now, served mostly as a holiday business with about 90 percent of its sales occurring between November and December. But the customers who would ship crates as gifts during the holidays would also ship them throughout the year for occasions such as birthdays, he notes.

Connors wants to highlight a monthly reason to purchase a crate, such as Valentine’s Day, March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Father’s Day.

“The goal is to make this a year-round thing,” he says. 

Connors has turned to social media to generate awareness about the business, saying he was “surprised” at how many people weren’t aware of the company. 

He’s also working on advertising for both television and radio.

Connors says the firm’s revenue is up 300 percent compared to 2013 and he expects the upcoming holiday season to be “robust.”

“If we can keep building the business, then … our goal of doubling [revenue] next year is very reasonable [and] attainable,” says Connors.        

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com