The Plaid Farm Store
The Plaid Farm Store, Helping Yourself to an Array of Local Goods
Sandra Yerges
Whether the sun is up or the moon is out, The Plaid Farm Store is ready for business. While taking on an open-door policy with its self-serve arrangements, this New York-based company provides those in the community with a stable place to find and purchase what they need. The milk, meat, and baked goods offered at the shop are always available for those early morning commutes, late-night shopping runs, and any time in between.
Creating this one-of-a-kind business model was a step into the past for Erika Gogis, owner of The Plaid Farm Store. As the daughter of a truck driver, she grew up seeing the challenge of shopping that evening jobs could bring. It was nearly impossible to find traditional stores open at the time her father finished work. To ease this barrier for others in her area, she has since doubled the previous 12 hours of daily operation established at the opening of the store in 2021.
Before any of this was a reality, however, Erika took on every opportunity to learn what it takes to get to this current career stage. She immersed herself in agricultural studies as well as an influential internship with Stamford Farmers Co-op. This hands-on experience was vital for her current business owner role as it gave her experience managing a shop. One lesson that stood out to her was how to properly price goods as it continues to be an important and often difficult part of her entrepreneurial role.
On top of managing the store, she also works directly with cattle both at an outside dairy and on her own farm. Even though her personal herd is a fraction of the size of the 500 others she cares for at the dairy, her smaller group of cows made a large impact on the start of The Plaid Farm Store. Erika began raising these animals for beef production with the plan of having them stocked in her shop.
There are currently a variety of beef products in The Plaid Farm Store that are perfect for meat lovers. Erika’s cattle account for all of these cuts, including stew meat, ground beef, and a familiar favorite, tomahawk steak. Throughout the years, the demand for these offerings has increased with some extra outside assistance.
At the onset of her business, grants were always on Erika’s mind. With broad plans to grow her new operation, it was inevitable that outside funds would be part of her future plans. The problem was figuring out which grant to choose. While consulting with her local Farm Service Agency office, she learned of the Value-Added Producer Grant (VAPG) and what it could offer her business’ meat production. It quickly became clear through that conversation and her own findings that the VAPG was a grant worth applying for.
Not only did Erika start her company from scratch in 2021, but she also began paving her way as a VAPG recipient. With the grant in full swing, the expenses of renting her store and preparing her meat for sale were no longer interfering with her growth. She was also able to focus her attention on new projects, such as the construction of a new walk-in cooler and freezer and the creation of promotional materials.
Even with these noteworthy changes in her business, Erika admitted there was still a lot more to be done. When she applied for the grant, she kept her scope small simply because she was starting up. After viewing her company’s fast growth during the grant period, however, it was clear that a larger, more product-focused grant would have been beneficial.
“I had no clue that it was going to do as well as it did,” she acknowledged.
For a business mostly operated by Erika, finding quick success like this is rare. Keeping up with this momentum is important, which is why she has enlisted the help of a college friend to ensure her online posts move her brand forward.
“Social media is ever evolving,” she explained. “The way that you reach people changes a lot.”
Having a thoughtful online presence is the link she has needed to connect with audiences outside of the local town of Amsterdam, New York. Because The Plaid Farm Store is located near a busy highway, tourists have been known to join local customers in visiting her shop. No matter if these customers come from afar or just down the road, however, it is their relationships with Erika that have gone the distance.
“While it is self-serve, I still have a pretty good connection with a lot of customers,” she mentioned.
Whether it was during her time as an intern or now being exposed to sales of her own, Erika has witnessed how important it is for customers like these to have locally raised and grown foods. They place a greater emphasis on finding small-town products as opposed to the often untraceable products on the market today. Because of this trend, Erika and her grandmother put their talents together to make a difference by starting a farm-focused event in their area.
Since 2022, the Farm to Table Tour event they created has allowed the public to not only purchase foods from the community’s producers but also see their operations firsthand. This outing occurs one day during the summer and highlights dozens of farmers in Montgomery and Fulton counties. Next year will mark the fourth year of this event, which is scheduled for July 27, 2025.
In addition to event preparation, there is much for Erika to look forward to in these upcoming months. She applied for the 2024 VAPG this past year and, if awarded, is excited about the funding opportunity to support her broiler chickens. Adding “fresh, never frozen” poultry to her beef offerings was a longstanding plan that dates back to the time of her first grant. Now that she has a cooler for her chicken to be stored through the extra cash flow of the original VAPG, she is on track to continue prioritizing newly processed foods while remaining accessible to all New York-based farm-to-table followers.
