Karen and Jeffrey Allen opened the store in August, bringing locally grown and produced foods to the area through more than just a local farmer’s market. The store caters in particular to locavores, people who primarily eat foods grown or produced within their local area. At Old Barn Hollow, that radius is 50 miles, which means every product in the store was grown, raised, or produced within a 50-mile radius of the store.
“I really felt there was a need for a local food market that was open five days a week all year long,” Karen Allen says.
Allen got her start in the local food market by making her own jams and jellies and selling them at area farmers’ markets. Initially, it was just a hobby around her full-time job as a science teacher. But when she got the bug to expand her jam and jelly offerings, Allen says she had to make a decision. She wanted to add products like pickles, but learned they had to be produced in a commercial kitchen.
It was while looking around for commercial kitchen space to lease that Allen kept hearing from people about how great it would be to have a store that could fill in the gaps around the farmers’ markets, which are seasonal and only open on certain days.
It all sort of snowballed from there, Allen says, and she ended up leasing space at 1217 Vestal Ave. in Binghamton that gave her 800 square feet of commercial kitchen space along with about 300 square feet of retail space for a storefront.
From there, Allen started chatting with vendors at farmers’ markets, meeting with local farmers, and researching online to find products to stock her store shelves. The result is a list of farmers, growers, and artisans who provide an array of products including milk, cheese, yogurt, goat milk, goat cheese, beef, chicken, pork, mustard, honey, maple products, soaps, cleaning products, lip balm, and more.
Allen typically purchases products from the vendors, inventories them, and then sells them, however she has a few vendors who sell at Old Barn Hollow on consignment. Allen declined to share her start-up costs, but noted that the business obtained a loan to finance costs such as equipment and getting the space ready.
Old Barn Hollow opened its doors on Aug. 3. “We had such a great welcoming from the community,” Allen notes. Business has been off to a great start, and the store is already launching its first expansion of a sort, she says.
The store already features breads and baked goods from Full Quiver Farm in the town of German in Chenango County. But in her search for products to fill the void as the growing season winds down and fewer fresh produce offerings are available, Allen stumbled across baker D.J. McCullough at a farmer’s market. McCullough, owner of Little Hen Specialty Bakery in the town of Maine, sells gluten-free baked goods.
“Her stuff is just fabulous,” Allen says of McCullough’s products. With increasing demand for gluten-free products for people with Celiac disease — who must avoid the gluten found in wheat, barley, and rye — Allen says she knew she found the right products to add to her store. Allen did not share specific details of the business agreement, but says it works for both parties as McCullough was looking for new kitchen space and now uses the kitchen at Old Barn Hollow.
McCullough and Little Hen made their official debut at Old Barn Hollow on Oct. 5. The store held a ribbon cutting in conjunction with the city on Oct. 3.
With the new gluten-free offerings, Allen says she’s gearing up for what she thinks will be a busy season at the store.
“I think everything will pick up even more when the farmers’ markets close down,” she says. While Allen can’t work a miracle and sell fresh-grown strawberries in New York in January, she says she has plenty of year-round products such as milk, eggs, cheese, and baked goods.
Currently, Allen operates Old Barn Hollow — which is open Tuesday through Thursday from 2-6 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — on her own with help from her husband and their children.
She declined to share revenue projections for the business. “I want a successful business,” Allen says. “I want to make ends meet.” But more than that, she says, she is committed to providing a local food option for people.
The Allens originally started Old Barn Hollow (www.oldbarnhollow.com) in their Chenango Bridge home in 2008.
Contact DeLore at tdelore@tgbbj.com
SMALL-BUSINESS SNAPSHOT
Old Barn Hollow Local Food & Artisan Market
1217 Vestal Avenue
Binghamton, NY 13903
Phone: (607) 217-5993
Website: www.oldbarnhollow.com
Type of business: Local food store
Owners: Karen and Jeffrey Allen