By David Reed
For the Times-Standard April 24, 2004

FORTUNA -- Owners Patrick and Cathy Whitchurch say it's satisfying just standing inside the door of their newly remodeled store, Fortuna Feed. Standing next to the threshold, the Whitchurches watch as customers, one after another, stop just inside the door and mouth the word, "Wow."

Patrick Whitchurch says it's that "wow factor" they were hoping for when he, Cathy and partners Ed and Elsie Whitchurch planned the massive remodel to the store that will officially reopen next Saturday.

"We started planning in October 2002 for what you see today," said Patrick. "The interior of the store is three times larger and the garden center and nursery are completely new."

The 6,000-square-foot nursery is clearly a point of pride for the Whitchurches. Shoppers can find bedding plants by local growers, landscape plants, trees and ground covers in the structure next to the main store. Behind the covered nursery aisles are landscape materials like bark and soil amendments.

Inside Fortuna Feed, the floor space is laid out more like an upscale grocery store than a typical pet supply or feed store. High ceilings and wide aisles are capped off by hanging signs to mark departments. Large format photos of ranch and farm scenes and families with their pets line the walls and will soon be joined by art from local western artist E.J. Kropf. Pet products and small animal feed are easy to access and some are even dispensed from self-serve bins.

Besides pet, farm and ranch supplies, Fortuna Feed has added lines of clothing and other items that complement the rest of the store. Wrangler jeans, work shirts, cowboy hats and even the Montana Silversmith jewelry line look at home next to the horse tack and garden gloves.

New ideas like the garden center and the expanded retail floor at Fortuna Feed are a mark of how the feed store has changed to meet changing times and new customer needs.

"It's definitely a change of mindset," Patrick explains as he and Cathy walk through the nursery aisles. "The typical old feed store is a worn-out, dusty old building by the railroad tracks. That type of store is going out across the country because the 'Cathy's' don't want to shop there."

Cathy Whitchurch continues. "It's true, customers are approaching our store differently now. Instead of heading straight for the counter and ordering what they need, customers, especially women, are taking some time to shop, look around and see what's new."

Cathy said the store expansion goes beyond a newer, larger interior and nursery space. She and store staff have entered more than 4,000 new items into the shop's point-of-sale computers in the last eight weeks and more than doubled the inventory.

The Whitchurches credit vendor Purina Mills with helping with the expansion and change of look. From the planning stages, Purina helped the store with studies of how the Fortuna and Southern Humboldt market was changing and how the store could adapt to reach new customers. Purina representatives helped with everything from identifying new product mix to picking a color scheme.

"Purina showed us what had been done in other areas with other stores and what the demographics showed could work for us. From there we picked and chose what we knew would be good for Fortuna and the area," said Patrick.

Fortuna Feed will officially reopen the expanded store on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Several special events are planned for the unveiling.

A horse owner's seminar with Dr. Robert Branch of North Coast Veterinary and Stash Easton, Purina horse specialist, starts at 11 a.m. Exotic animals, including a camel and miniature horses, donkeys and mules, will be on display during the afternoon. Bobbi's Quality Photo will take pet portraits of customers and their furry friends throughout the event.

The grand reopening will also feature sales and giveaways of a garden fountain, a ton of hay and pallets of animal bedding. Fortuna 4-H will have a fund-raising barbecue during the day.