Doing Good in the Family Business: A Conversation with Perry and Wynn Worthen of Granary Street Health Food Stores

Abstract

Executive SummaryPerry Worthen opened a health food store, which he named Granary Street, in 1991 in the small east Texas town of Gladewater. Worthen used $11,000 that he had saved to start the business. In order to finance the new business and avoid borrowing money, Worthen followed a strenuous regimen of work as a brick layer in the morning hours and store owner/manager in the afternoon and evening. In the early 1990s, the health food store industry consisted of small 'Mom and Pop' retailers, which often charged high prices for their goods, before the advent of national or regional chains, such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.The Granary sells health food products and dietary supplements. Through hard work and frugal stewardship, Worthen's business began to grow and he was able to move the operation to the larger east Texas towns of Longview in 1993 and then Tyler in 1996. Excellent customer service and low competitive prices were the hallmarks of The Granary's success. Worthen also believed that word-of-mouth advertising served his company best and refrained from expensive advertising programs and relied on a satisfied repeat customer base.Family has been a major part of the business. Worthen's wife, Nancy, helped staff the store in the early days. As the business prospered Worthen formed separate partnerships with his brothers in Dallas and in Texarkana. Now, two of Perry's sons, Mark and Wynn have joined the business. During high school and college, both sons worked in the business after school and on weekends and now they serve as managers. The family shares strong ethical and religious values that form the basis for Granary Street and resonate with customers who feel that they can trust the owners of the firm.In the following interview, Perry and Wynn Worthen describe their family business and what it means to them.Author: Please, tell me a little bit about yourself and how you started The Granary.Perry Worthen: I was taking a class in retail in the late 1980s going back to get my MBA (at UT Tyler). I thought that I would do well in retail because I was good with numbers and I liked people and that is what it takes to be successful in retail. I opened a store in 1991 in Gladewater - 700 square feet, right on Highway 80 in a town of 5000 people. It took me two years. Our main product was organic produce. People came from Longview, which is 10 miles away and a much bigger town. In two years we moved to Longview and then in 1996 we added a store in Tyler. It took me five years before I took any money out of the business.Author: From previous conversations I recall that when you started the store you were still doing brick-laying, right?Perry Worthen: I continued to lay bricks for five years until I totally gave it up. I kept re-investing. My father and I were in business and we had flexible hours. I would start working at 6:00 AM and get off at 11:00 AM. I would open the store at 12:00 noon to 7:00 PM every day. When I couldn't work my wife or mom would come in. We lived 8 miles away from the store.Author: So, you did a lot of boot-strapping at the beginning?Perry Worthen: It was all boot-strapping. I did not borrow any money. $11,000 was my initial investment. I built the shelves out of plywood myself. I bought two old refrigerators from a liquor store that was going out of business. They were 30 years old, but they worked. That is where we kept the produce.Author: Where did you get the idea for organic produce?Perry Worthen: My wife and I were part of a food coop. We bought grain and a lot of natural things in bulk. It was a coop in Fayetteville, Arkansas and they delivered all across East Texas, LA, and Arkansas once per month. At that time it was very unusual to be able to buy whole grain, organic products. In order to start the business, I went to Whole Foods, which was one store in Austin, Texas a really old store at the beginning. There were a lot of Mom and Pop health food stores. …