Feed store moves after decades in downtown Winter Garden

Phyllis the chicken and Flower the rabbit have a new home. And they’ve taken the entire feed store with them.

Winter Garden Feed Co., purchased last March by Stan and Sherri Hawthorne and given a new name, has moved to a newer and larger building on West Colonial Drive. It is directly behind Main Street Mower, also owned by the Hawthornes. In fact, the two businesses share an address, 12403 W. Colonial Drive, Winter Garden.

Stan Hawthorne said the move was warranted because parking was always an issue and the semi tractor-trailers had a difficult time maneuvering on Joiner and Main streets.

The new warehouse and showroom are almost twice as big as the old building, Hawthorne said. With the extra shelving space, this will give the owners an opportunity to increase their stock.

“We’re looking for new products that our customers can use and possibly bring in new customers by having new products,” Hawthorne said. “(The previous owners) were somewhat limited in what they could keep there.”

Still available will be the popular Seminole Feed brand of horse, chicken and goat feed and Purina product line.

Hawthorne said the feed store is adding products for chickens and plans to improve its garden supplies, such as fertilizers and mulches.

“And, of course, we have a large selection of seeds, and we’re going to bring in the seasonal vegetable plants,” he said.

The Hawthornes purchased the business from Marc and Karen Grimes, who owned it for about 10 years. The new owners took over the care of the rabbit and chicken, but the Grimeses took the popular pot-bellied pig with them.

Prior to the Grimes operating the shop, Steve Norman owned it for a few years, having purchased it from John Beck. At some point it was called Greener Gardens. Beck changed the name to Beck’s Feed and Garden Supply from McCord’s Feed Store.

Ala McCord started his business in 1947 and operated it until the 1970s.

The Hawthornes’ other business, Main Street Mower, started in downtown Windermere in 1994 and moved to Maguire Road in Ocoee eight-and-one-half years later. It has been at the current location for three years.

Contact Amy Quesinberry at [email protected].