Photo: Woodstock Farmers’ Market owners stand in the produce department at their Woodstock store. Pictured (left to right): Patrick Crowl, founder and partner; Amelia Rappaport, HR director and partner; and Brandon Little, general manager and partner. Courtesy photo.
Vermont Business Magazine “Thirty years ago my Dad called and ask me to help out for a summer at a roadside market he was buying in Woodstock,” said Patrick Crowl, owner of Woodstock Farmers’ Market (WFM), which now has two stores in Woodstock and Waterbury, 85 employees, and grosses $15 million in sales between both locations. “Needless to say, it’s been a long summer. I can’t believe we’re celebrating 30 years.”
This summer the WFM team is putting a special spin on their annual celebration, “Local Food Is Love,” with a focus on their 30-year history as a destination for locally grown produce, meat, and dairy products, as well as Vermont-made grocery items.
Back in 1992, when Crowl was just getting started, the local food movement hadn’t yet taken off. But from the very beginning, he and his team had a local focus. “We knew we needed the plumber, the electrician, and the second homeowner,” Crowl said. “It was critical for us to keep it local, keep prices real, and elevate the service. Even today, we rely on both of our local communities to keep our doors open.”
Back in the ‘90s, WFM sourced local products whenever possible, going out of their way to cultivate relationships with nearby farmers and producers that are still going strong today, with businesses like Crossroad Farm, Klinger’s Bread Company, and Grafton Village Cheese. Amelia Rappaport, who was WFM’s first employee and is now partner and director of human resources, was at the forefront of that movement. “We loved inviting our local food producers and farmers to demo samples,” she said. “I can’t tell you how many big-time producers got their start at Farmers’. It feels great to be that connected to our local food scene.”
They also got involved in their community—coaching sports, sitting on local nonprofit boards, and supporting community events. “We call it ‘Feeding our Community’,” Crowl said. “It’s all one big circle—we get involved in our communities and the communities in turn have your back. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to focus on the best food and service either.”
During the first decade in business, it was clear something was working. Crowl doubled the size of the store in 2001. They celebrated a Retailer of the Year award from the SFA (Specialty Food Association) in 2009. Then in 2011, after the destructive floods from Hurricane Irene closed the store for three months, they came back stronger than ever. A few years later, in 2015, they were invited to join a group of exclusive national specialty retailers called the Good Food Collaborative, with the likes of Zingerman’s in Ann Arber, MI, and Di Bruno Brothers in Philadelphia. And in 2019, they fulfilled a longtime dream of opening a second store in Waterbury.
Most recently, Crowl and his team buckled down and reinvented themselves after closing both stores to the public during the first phase of the pandemic—Woodstock for three months (offering Curbside service only) and Waterbury for nearly a year. They now find themselves back in the fray but dealing with a new challenge: short staffing.
“We are making our way and continuing to put our nose to the grindstone in the face of a new business landscape,” said Brandon Little, who joined the team in 2008 and is now partner and general manager. “We are strong willed and hire like-minded people, so we just need to keep coming up with new ways of doing what we do, motivating ourselves and our staff. It’s still fun after all these years.”
Woodstock Farmers Market was founded in 1992 by Jack Crowl, the father of current owner Patrick Crowl. The company’s two locations—Waterbury and Woodstock—offer fresh produce, local meats, specialty and everyday grocery items, beer and wine, as well as coffee, baked goods and prepared foods. They are open six days a week, year-round. For more info: woodstockfarmersmarket.com.