Business Spotlight: Farmer’s Market brings legacy
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, September 20, 2016
LaGRANGE — Cashiers greet regular customers as they wander in past the mums and fresh pumpkins that decorate the front of the LaGrange Farmer’s Market on Greenville Street on Monday morning.
The Farmer’s Market has been selling produce in LaGrange for more than two decades, and owners Randy and Cody Nixon come from a line of family who have sold produce, first in Columbus and now in LaGrange.
“I’m fourth generation of my family,” said Cody Nixon, who runs the market with his father, Randy Nixon. “My great-grandfather started with a horse and buggy going door to door in Columbus, and then we got into wholesale until I was like 14, which would have been ‘83 or something, and then we got into retail in Columbus.”
The Nixons try to pass on the benefits of their legacy of produce sales by hand picking all the produce for the store, aiming to give customers the best product possible.
“As long as I’ve known (Rusty Nix) he’s been selling produce,” said manager Jeremiah Nix. “Since before I was born, it’s just what he does. He handpicks everything we’ve got. He’s actually the one who still drives the truck to Atlanta and hand picks everything three or four times a week, so everything is all picked by hand. … We look at everything that comes in everyday.”
The Farmer’s Market has been in LaGrange since 1994, and in that time its operators have come to appreciate the people in the community.
“We just get a lot of support from the community,” said Nixon. “And other then that, it’s just been good to us.”
Like many who run local businesses, Nixon and Nix credit regular customers with making the experience of working in LaGrange an enjoyable experience.
“The people are friendly, and I guess we’ve been in business so long now that we’re kind of like a staple of the community,” said Nix. “And it’s just a family friendly community atmosphere up here. Everybody has grown accustomed to our cheap prices and our quality stuff, so people actually are excited to come in for their weekly visit or daily visit. It is kind of like family.”
The LaGrange Farmer’s Market is located at 606 Greenville St. and is open Monday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
