Family ties: At 75, Paul's Farm Market still leans on quality, customer service

ZANESVILLE — Much has changed in 75 years at Paul's Farm Market, but the way they go about business has not.

Customer service and quality products remain paramount to their success, just as it was for their parents, Thomas and Margaret Paul, and business partner Dick Durant back in the late 1940s at a cabin near the Muskingum River.

As the family-owned company prepares for its annual opening at its facility off Ohio 60 just south of the city limits, brothers Terry, Marvin, Myron and Teddy — among 13 siblings — remain part of the daily operation.

While they don't grow at the capacity of the days before the major supermarkets arrived, they still grow 12 different vegetables and fruits, such as apples, peaches, plums and pears, in addition to flowers and other plants.

Their official season opening will be on April 22, but they will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Regular hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

It's expected to be another busy season. Their loyal customers keep returning and they will continue to lean on their customer service and local ties for success.

While they can't always compete with the lower prices of stores such as Walmart, Kroger and Riesbeck's, to name a few, there are benefits to buying local.

"We have to bank on 'we grow,' and we can probably tell you how to grow it," Terry said from the greenhouse recently. "There are things we can tell you, as far as how the plants have been treated, we can tell you exactly about the things we can do. You can't get that service (at the other places)."

Terry, now 73, has been a part owner since 1968, when he partnered with his father and Durant. Myron joined him in 1987 and Marvin has been full time for 22 years after retiring from the U.S. Air Force.

They added more greenhouses in the 1990s and they still grow almost 30 different types of apples and four varieties of pears. The orchard spans six acres.

Terry never imagined he would still be in the growing business in his 70s when he joined on. He has a bachelor's degree from Ohio University and took the entrance exam to law school, but he soon realized his life's vocation would be in the family business.

"We've all got certain parts (here)," Teddy said.

All of the children spent time working at the greenhouse and in the fields on the farm, located behind the greenhouses' current location, near the home where they were raised.

"You just kind of grew up with it," Terry said. "You got a nickel or dime for this or a nickel or dime for that. We kind of got paid for what we did. We lived right here. Sometimes we had to be there because of our behaviors, and what not, but other times we were there to help."

Marvin said jokingly that "we were like early Amish. We were always out in the fields doing something."

They might not have always wanted to do it, but it nonetheless became a vocation. It taught them work ethic and plenty of botanic insight — they learned to grow several varieties of flowers and plants, from sweet corn to green beans to potatoes.

"At one time we were farming 25 acres of potatoes (off Dietz and Lawhead lanes) and sweet corn," Terry said. "We did some other crops. From there, you just kind learned what you could make money on what you couldn't."

In the earlier decades, before the major stores arrived, customers bought in bulk. Now many prefer to buy in smaller numbers, often in special varieties, such as apples and sweet corn.

They still farm 12 acres, but much of the work is done in the greenhouses, which Terry said consumes about five months of growing season.

They will be open until Thanksgiving.

"We like to do it," Terry said. "There is something about growing things that come from seed. You see them grow and bloom, and you see it happening. It's rewarding, just to see the crop happening. And we still grew with our children and the grandchildren, so they got to play with it. It has been a whole life occupation ... When you invest that much into it, it becomes a part of you."

Added Myron: "It's the only thing I have ever done. Everyone else has probably had a job."

Like the majority of businesses, COVID-19 created a strain. It was especially difficult for greenhouses, however, which had been well into their growing season when the governmental shutdown started in mid-March 2020.

"We had already had everything planted, everything ordered, our greenhouses were just about full," Marvin recalled. "That was probably our toughest time. We've had some bad years, weather-wise with fruit, but at least with fruit you can say, 'what can we supplement in the fields to make up for it and gain a little bit more.'"

Marvin said the business should remain strong as long as its older customers continue to shop there and word of mouth remains its biggest advertiser.

"With certain people, with certain products that we sell, that's only the time of the year that you're going to see them," Marvin said, using strawberry and green bean seasons as examples.

While the business remains strong, the long-term future remains unknown. He said his children all make more money than he does, plus the natural concerns over making ends meet with the needs of the business.

"You have all of that, plus my money is invested," Terry said. "My living is here, whether it's machinery or what it is. You're not going to turn that over if you're not going to use it. So we wonder what will happen down the road when we get a little older."

Marvin echoed that.

"There's really not anybody in the (family) cycle that wants to pick anything up," Marvin said. "But I think as long we can keep ourselves moving with it — and our health, it depends on that, too, we may have to cut back — I think part of it will still keep going."

sblackbu@gannett.com; Twitter: @SamBlackburnTR

This article originally appeared on Zanesville Times Recorder: Paul's Farm Market still thriving after 75 years in Zanesville