article in the ithaca journal
Shira Golding
7:20 PM, Dec. 12, 2011
Ithaca -- Produce market and specialty foods vendor Ludgate Farms will sell its last Christmas tree later this week, and soon after will begin selling off equipment and fixtures.
Katie Quinn-Jacobs and her husband Dave bought the 38-year-oldbusiness a year ago. Quinn-Jacobs said Ludgate Farms, on Hanshaw Road, had been struggling the last few years when they took over. Now, she said, they have found they can't turn it around and are ready to move on to something else.
The store is undergoing a liquidation sale through Dec. 15. Trees and other Christmas fare will be sold through Dec. 23, with the fixtures and other equipment to go by Dec. 29.
But some in the Sapsucker Woods area and beyond are hoping there is enough love for Ludgate Farms -- to some minds, a neighborhood institution -- to save it. The locally grown organic food store started as a roadside stand in 1973 by the Ludgate family and gradually expanded its hours until the family started a year-round market in 1980.
"There is just such a magic to the space," said Shira Golding Evergreen. "It seems like a shame to just let it close down."
Close to 10 residents, including Evergreen, met at the store last week to discuss taking over the store as a cooperative.
Evergreen said she's not sure, but there seems to be enough interest to at least keep the discussion going for now.
"The feeling, based on the amount of response in e-mails, is there are people who would put in money to buy shares," Evergreen said. "The question is how much and how fast. The consensus was we should at least find out."
Quinn-Jacobs said she often thought that the business could thrive as a co-op.
"A co-op is a natural fit here," she said.
Between Quinn-Jacobs and the attendees at Friday's brainstorming session, there are enough ideas to keep several businesses busy -- from the do-it-yourself products that are currently a specialty of the store, to dedicating meeting space for local groups, to a smaller version of the weekly Ithaca Farmer's market.
Quinn-Jacobs said she planned to be frank with those interested in forming a co-op: the business needs at least $3 million in gross annual sales, and it needs to draw in a reliable clientele.
Ludgate Farms would not be the first Ithaca business to transition to a co-op model. Buffalo Street Books closed last winter as a proprietorship and re-opened in the spring as a co-op.
Quinn-Jacobs said she didn't know what would happen with the co-op idea at Ludgate.
"I felt really strongly that if the community wants this, the community will make it happen," Quinn-Jacobs said. "And that's the way it's gotta be. As much as I love this store, it has to come from the community. I would love to contribute as a worker bee ... but I don't want to be spearheading it. So, hopefully someone else will come forward to fill that role."
Evergreen said several people volunteered to form a steering committee, but there is not likely to be anyone who does it all.
"There's an idea that there needs to be a magic person who can come and manage it and maybe buy it," she said. "Some time has been spent searching for this magic person, who maybe doesn't exist at the moment."
But lacking that silver-bullet, Evergreen said, "I think we're definitely going to put a lot of effort into finding community interest."