BY KADIE VICK
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Newman’s Farm Supply supports local farmers, as well as those who hunt and fish, by providing affordable products with a family-friendly feel.
“We pride ourselves on being a small business in a small town,” said Newman’s Farm Supply co-owner Mandy Newman. “We carry seed, and we make sure the customers are taken care of. Even during COVID, we were never closed, so locals could still come to our store and we would service them in their car so they would feel comfortable,”
This family-focused business began when Mandy and John Newman wanted a storefront to sell their greenhouse-grown produce.
“We opened our storefront in 2011,” Mandy said. “We had been growing produce in our greenhouse and wanted to have an outlet to sell our baskets and our vegetables, and it just took off from there.”
Newman said she is proud to keep the business family-oriented and enjoys working with her children and grandchildren.
“It’s wonderful to be able to keep this family oriented,” Newman said. “We raised our youngest two in the business; they were two and three when we opened the store. Now the youngest is a senior in high school this year, so he has grown up a part of this business his whole life. The whole process is starting over again because we have a grandbaby who is two, and that is really exciting.”
This business has not just benefited the Newman children by giving them experience and skills to work in the farming industry, but it has also helped them develop interpersonal skills and responsibility.
“It has been really wonderful to watch my children grow up working at Newman’s Farm Supply,” Newman said. “They have spent a lot of time talking to customers, they know a lot of people in the community and they can communicate well with people. The kids have been running the cash registers, and now they don’t even need us. All the customers just love the kids.”
Mandy said she is happy to have the opportunity to work with her family every day, and she is thankful for the community support that allows her to do that.
“It’s just a good situation to be in. I love that I am able to be with my family all the time while working,” she said.
As a local, family-owned store, Newman said she believes that they bring care and community to the way they interact with customers, and knows the difference between the customer service locals receive at Newman’s Farm Supply compared to farm supply chains.
“You can get kind of lost in the big box stores, but at Newman’s Farm Supply, we greet everyone. We know 90% of our customers by name. Customers can come in, we keep up with them, we help them get what they need and it works really well for everyone,” she said.
Newman said she hopes that customers and locals know how much their support is appreciated and that Newman’s Farm Supply will do their best to provide what customers need.
“Being a smaller, family-owned business, we are more appreciative of our customers. We try to help customers find what they need. We sponsor quality, and we always try to help out when and where we can,” she said.
To find out more information about Newman’s Farm Supply, visit its Facebook page or call (334) 864-7006.
