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A Taste of Summer with the Values of Family Pray's
Family Farms prepare for their annual summer farmer's market while maintaining
their family's standards
“If you want to get right back to the beginning,” says Blair Pray, reminiscing on the start of the business, “my grandfather started the farm in Keeseville back in 1940 with my father and his brothers and sisters.” Nearly seventy years later, Pray's Family Farm has since opened two retail facilities, including one on Route 3 in Plattsburgh. Bringing local service was important to Blair and his brother when they opened the facility in the mid 1970s, just after graduating from high school. “We opted to start a wholesale business-delivering to schools, restaurants, and other institutions. We started broadening our horizons here locally," he says. The early '90s brought the progress of tractor-trailer use, as well as an establishment in the Capital Region District Market in Albany. “Everything there is sold by the case in higher volume. It became a big aspect of the business,” adds Blair. “We started broadening our horizons here locally.” Like every growing business, Pray's Family Farms has seen some difficult obstacles. “With the business expanding, a primary obstacle has been looking outside the family for good quality people to work,” Blair says. But finding more workers wasn't the only problem. “Some of the expenses of the overhead jumped dramatically in the past couple of years—primarily energy and the price of fuel going absolutely out of this world," he says. However, Pray's Family Farms has made some substantial progress in the business' size. “We've expanded the retail here five or six-fold in the past 10 to 15 years,” Pray says. What was once a small building has since grown in the past five years to include two large green houses and a building that is over 200 feet long and approximately 60 feet wide. “We have a better environment for the plants and the flowering plants that we have to offer in the spring,” said Prays.
Some of the highlighted vegetation offered at Pray's is shrubbery, shade trees, and produce, as well as the large number of bedding flowers. “We have a tremendous edge on quality and freshness,” Pray says. “Our farm in Keeseville gives us quite an advantage over local stores.” “We have a tremendous edge on quality and freshness.” Work does not end at the season's close for the workers. Each winter is full of research to keep providing the best service. “My father and my brother research through seed catalogues, looking for new and improved varieties and old standby's that have done well for us, whether it's bigger and better or better flavor; pretty much anything that our consumers might look at as a higher grade of quality,” says Pray. Being a growing business hasn't stopped Pray's from keeping their local and family values intact. Blair Pray feels that keeping the family aspect in view makes their business what it is. “Overall, I think that with the family aspect of the business, you get a more down-to-earth feeling with dealing with the public. We try to do a better job, and have a more sincere situation between the customers and the people that are working at the market here,” says Pray. As the name would suggest, the majority of the workers at Pray's Family Farms are related. “As the business expanded, we've had to reach out and grab some of the local people, but cousins, in-laws, outlaws…whatever you want to call them are all part of our family here. I would say probably 85 percent of the staff is family. When it's family, it's more than just a job," says Pray. “When it's family, it's more than just a job.”
Family relationships extend out to more than just the staff at Pray's. “I've gotten more deeply involved with the business. I've gotten to know the local growers and suppliers that we deal with on a much more personal level," says Pray. "Some of the people I've dealt with, I've known for probably ten years.” While they are business associates, many workers at Pray's Family Farms consider them to be more. “The people that we deal with are more than just business associates. I like to think of them as close friends," he says. Annette Miller has worked for Pray's Farmers Market for 16 years. While she isn't a blood relative, she feels close to the Pray's family. "I love working with the family," she says. "They take a lot of pride in their work, especially in satisfying the customers. If we don't have something for them, we try to get it." As far as the community goes, Pray's Family Farms takes great pride in offering great service to their customers. “We try to give them a product that they can use and be happy with so they can service their own clientele,” says Pray. With the ice storm of 1998, Pray's was able to help out by providing delivery service for local customers. When it comes to the retail end of Pray's Family Farms, workers see a large number of returning customers. It is estimated that nearly 40-50 percent of the customers are repeat sales. Pray looks forward to the reopening season for more reasons than just business prospects. “I think that a lot of people over the years come to know us and look forward to us reopening every year. It makes you feel like an old friend getting together again; it's not just a business reopening, but a re-acquaintance with people that you haven't seen for a while,” he says. With the down-to-earth atmosphere and the sincere customer service, Pray's Family Farms remains a growing business with local and family roots. "A lot of our regulars say, 'it's spring when Pray's opens," says Miller.
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Other Local Farmers Markets Clinton
Farmers Market Elizabethtown
Farmers Market Keene
Farmers Market Lake
Placid Farmers Market The Top Fives of Farming 2004's Top
Five Agriculture Commodities 2004's Top
Five Agricultural Exports 2004's Top
Five Counties in Agricultural Sales For more information on agricultural sales or farm characteristics, visit the Census of Agriculture. |
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