ASQUITH, Sask. – Asquith Farm and Ranch is something of a rancher’s paradise. It is a one-stop shop for livestock and pet feed, medicine, identification tags, saddlery, hardware, fencing and, if you’ve forgotten an anniversary, a gift for the missus.
“We’ve been called the rancher’s saviour,” said owner Lorraine Gilchrist. “Husbands have come in here asking, ‘what can I get her today, now, before I go home for supper?’ “
In April, Gilchrist and partner Bob McTavish opened the farm and ranch supply store located 30 kilometres west of Saskatoon. With 20 years of sales and marketing experience and a lifetime spent ranching, Gilchrist knows a thing or two about positioning her product and the importance of location.
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“This kind of business doesn’t fit well within the city limits,” she said. “It’s on a big street. Ranchers and farmers can come here with big trucks and don’t have to worry about getting into an accident. We can load them easily, they can come in and have coffee and pick up their medicines and a gift for their wife or whatever. We’re getting it where it needs to be.”
The building on this small town main street had been used as the same type of store in the past, but on a smaller scale. Gilchrist uses the entire 4,600 sq. feet of building and compound lot space to warehouse feed, fence posts, supplies, saddles, giftware and consignment western clothing. She hopes to winterize part of the original structure, a 1904 blacksmith shop, without ruining its rustic atmosphere and use it commercially, perhaps as a separate gift shop for the one-of-a-kind handiwork she acquires from mostly local artists.
She hopes the unique giftware will eventually attract city dwellers but said, for now, it means wives don’t mind coming along when their husband goes shopping.
“They’re always an integral part of any ranching operation because they do the books. They know how much money they’ve got, but she likes to come along and see what neat things we might have for the house too, as well as fence posts that she might help pound in the field.”
Gilchrist keeps the coffee pot on and ranchers often gather to talk shop before loading their purchases. While most of the customers are within an 80 km radius of Saskatoon, they have come from as far away as Kindersley and Shaunavon, Sask.
While Gilchrist tries to keep her suppliers Canadian, one of the few American products she sells are Tiffany bull riding gloves, a high quality leather product popular with prairie rodeo buffs. She said offering quality products and service are key to success.
“I figure if you’re going to do it, do it right or don’t do it. If you’re going to have products, have decent quality products or don’t have them; if you’re going to have employees, have good ones or don’t have them,” she said.
Her staff members both work on a casual basis but will likely have regular part-time hours as the business builds, and are always ready to assist customers.
“If somebody comes in for one of those heavy mineral tubs that weigh 200 pounds, I don’t want him to have to come back when Bob’s here. Load it now. Farmers don’t wait and they don’t make two trips,” said Gilchrist.
She believes women work harder to locate and bring in products for customers and are more creative at finding solutions. Female management and staff are unique in a traditionally male dominated field, but Gilchrist’s experience as a feed salesperson, cattle rancher and horse judge have earned her general acceptance.
“Because of her personality and because she is so known in her field, a lot of guys don’t second-guess her,” said employee Dianne McTavish.
The biggest challenge Gilchrist faced in launching the business was securing a mortgage on the property. She said banks wouldn’t gamble on a building for an agricultural business in small town Saskatchewan. She was able to find private money to do it, but still needed a line of credit for inventory purposes. She took her business plan to Women Entrepreneurs of Saskatchewan Inc., a non-profit organization that works with women considering starting a business. Advisers there “massaged” Gilchrist’s plan and posed questions that lending institutions might have asked. Her polished plan was picked up by a credit union and she was in business.
“It’s not always easy for a woman to get a business going,” she said. “These girls will help you out.”
Gilchrist plans to expand the business by continually providing products on a rancher’s wish list and adding niche sections as she did with the giftware, clothing and saddlery. Eventually she would like to see Asquith Farm and Ranch become her sole focus.
“Let’s face it, Bob and I are getting older and we have a full ranching operation as well. So down the road when we decided to liquidate that cattle herd, I want to be able to salt that money and I want this to be a good mom and pop operation to support us. I want it to grow so that we are the place in the west-central part of the province to get all your farm and ranch supplies.”
