PORT HAWKESBURY: After five-plus years of providing service to their customers within the town and throughout the Strait area, Port Hawkesbury Feed & Supplies officially stopped being a Holna Farm Services sub dealer on Jan. 28.
One of the operators, Brittany DeWolfe, explained they mainly stocked various livestock feeds, however, Port Hawkesbury Feed & Supplies also provided their customers with day-old chicks, meat birds and laying hens; chopped straw and wood shavings, fertilizer, along with a number of other home good and farm supplies.
“Since 2017 we have been a sub dealer and have the feed and supplies in the building operating in conjunction with the bottle exchange,” DeWolfe told The Reporter in an interview. “It’s a family-run business here at Strait Bottle Exchange. When Tidy Tails was closing, which used to be located over by Sobeys, at the time it made sense for us to look at taking that over as the sub dealer of Holna Farm Services.”
With Holna looking for a new sub dealer in the Port Hawkesbury area, and already having the bottle depot, it was a venture worth exploring, she said.
“We just tried to provide a bit of a farm store to the area,” DeWolfe said. “Ultimately, the space was the biggest constraint we had. It was always kind of an issue from the start, but as our business grew, especially last summer, the summer of 2022, it was the busiest to be, it really pushed us beyond our limits.”
Most days, she indicated they hoped for good weather that would allow them to put some material from the enviro depot outside on days the trucks were coming, to try to free up additional space in the building.
“We knew something had to change so we started brainstorming exactly how or what we could do to allow the two businesses to thrive together,” DeWolfe said. “Along with Holna, we thought long and hard on a solution to the space problem, but ultimately we had to make the difficult decision to stop selling Purina feed effectively Jan. 28.”
She explained it was difficult, and something they didn’t take lightly.
“We knew a lot of people depended on us for their animal feed, and enjoyed the convenience the Port Hawkesbury location had,” DeWolfe said. “Everyone showed us so much support over the years; we met lots of wonderful people and formed many friendships along the way. It was really, really difficult and we just hope that somebody else can take it over in the area.”
While the former sub dealer indicated she would like to say it will be a seamless transition, they know there will be a duration of time to find someone new to take on the role of being a sub dealer to Holna Farm Services.
Holna Farm Services, which is located in Antigonish, has three other sub dealers in Cape Breton, located at the Brook Village Grocery in Whycocomagh, RM Landry & Son in St. Peter’s, and Hillside Feeds located in Boularderie.
“So they’re kind of spread out over the island,” DeWolfe said. “But I’m hoping that people could go to the nearest sub dealer or Antigonish, whichever is closest to them in the meantime.”
With Port Hawkesbury being a central location, customers came from all over the island, and from the mainland.
“Route 19, all the way down Margaree, though West Bay, Orangedale, some even from the mainland, Havre Boucher, Frankville, Boylston,” DeWolfe said. “Going the other way, I’d say as far down as Soldiers Cove, Hay Cove, and all areas in between, Louisdale, Arichat, Lower River.”
As for the timing of the closure, she indicated they knew the dates would soon be coming out for placing orders for meat birds and laying hens.
“So we wanted to give notice before that season began so we wouldn’t interfere with our customer’s orders or expectations. So it’s a quieter season right now,” DeWolfe said. “It’s a thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the support and we really regretted to have to make the decision, and like I’ve repeated it wasn’t an easy one for sure.”