Our Story - Our Values
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Our
Story - Our Store
by
Mark Coblentz, President, Walnut Creek Cheese and Walnut Creek
Foods
It all started with a
pickup truck and a slide-in refrigerated box in April 1977. I was 21years old with more spunk than sense. A cousin told me about an
opportunity where a local fellow had a cheese route for sale. I struck a deal
that put me in business. There was a little problem, though: The previous route
owner neglected to tell me that he had quit the route a month before, and I
happened to be the first guy who came along. The business really wasn’t much
more than that pickup truck, an assortment of 20 local products and a list of
about 60 potential customers.
Early on a Tuesday morning
I filled my truck and headed for Northeastern Ohio, peddling cheese and Trail
Bologna to retail stores. Since I was using the previous owner’s invoices, I was
hoping I wouldn’t have to pronounce one of the items listed—cheddar
cheese—because I didn’t know if it was pronounced chead-er(like “header”) or
cheed-er(like “reader”). My cheese
experience at that time was limited to having tasted four varieties: Swiss, Baby
Swiss, Longhorn and occasionally a Casino Brick.
Anyway, I was excited when
the first store ordered two wheels of Baby Swiss and three rings of Trail
Bologna—about $15 worth of product. I calculated that with 60 stores on my
customer list, I could sell $900 for the week. The only problem was that the
manager at the next store told me he didn’t need anything. That certainly burst
my bubble. But I had an even greater disappointment later that first day when I
learned that the largest customer had traveled to Holmes County to buy product
directly from the manufacturer because the previous route owner hadn’t shown up
for nearly a month.
It was all a great learning
experience. I think my new customers sensed how hard I was trying to serve them.
In fact, the large client who showed me the door the first day became one of my
best customers after I showed up every week for six months. “You've earned my
trust,” he told me. “I know you won't leave me high and dry.” More than 30 years
later his store is still an active customer.
Another customer took me
under wing and helped me gain a number of new accounts. Because of these new
clients’ requests, I soon realized that just 20 varieties of cheese weren’t
meeting my customers’ needs. I began checking out additional products. I figured
since I was already delivering at a store, I might as well maximize my marketing
potential.
Even though I didn’t have
the benefit of education—or even experience—behind me, I did have a significant
edge. That edge was that my parents had raised me with Christian values. My
parents are conservative Amish Mennonite, and they had taught me to go the extra
mile. They also taught me the importance of honesty.
Honesty and integrity have
always been hallmarks of our company. Early on, one of my new customers received
a three-cent credit from me. It convinced her that we were a company she wanted
to do business with. She became a lifelong fan of Walnut Creek Cheese and a
friend of the family.
My first warehouse was a
couple of refrigerated truck beds and a shed on my dad’s farm. In 1984, when
more space became necessary, we built our first building in Walnut Creek, Ohio.
We attached a retail store to it, primarily so I could justify having personnel
to answer the phone for wholesale orders and pick-ups. Although the retail store
began as an afterthought, it was the beginning of us becoming a team. In an
interesting development, the retail exposure and knowledge of products needed to
make retail successful were used to better serve our wholesale customers as
well.
With both wholesale and
retail in place, our next focus was manufacturing. My brother Jason and I formed
Coblentz Chocolate Company in 1987. This venture further piqued our interest in
manufacturing more of our own foods, leading to the acquisition of Snyder Foods
in 1994 and Holmes Distributing in 1995. Both of these companies had been
friendly competitors in the wholesale trade. They also manufactured several
categories of food. Snyder Foods cooked jams, jellies and fudge. Holmes
Distributing made cheese spreads. With these acquisitions we were able to
achieve further efficiency. Now stores could buy from one company instead of
three. Purchasing and picking up products also were more
efficient.
Our team further maximized
potential by opening our second retail store, this one in Berlin, in 1996—and
acquiring Uncle Mike’s Beef Jerky in 1998. The tantalizing taste of Uncle Mike’s
Beef Jerky made it a mouth-watering complement to our line of manufactured
foods.
Acquisitions played a large
part in the early growth of our company because our growth was directly linked
to the friendliness we extended to our competitors. By not soliciting their
customers, we treated them as we would want to be treated. Also, if any of our
competitors were going to be short a product for their routes, they could count
on us to supply it to them at a price that was just above our cost. I believe
this was a factor in the management of these companies talking to us when they
were ready to sell their businesses.
Because of these
acquisitions we moved our wholesale operations to Millersburg for a period of
three years. Our vision was to build a new warehouse in Walnut Creek. This dream
was fulfilled in 1997 when we constructed our new warehouse facility. We
designed our warehouse so that we could wrap our retail outlet around it when we
outgrew our existing retail locations in Walnut Creek and
Berlin. This happened in 2002. We were able to use the high ceilings and
mezzanines from the warehouse to display the antiques and nostalgic items that I've
collected over the years. This created a unique shopping experience as we
continued to serve our customers with our low prices and Walnut Creek quality.
The response to the new
store was overwhelming, and our customer count (both wholesale and retail) grew
so much that we needed more space. We made a decision to build a new wholesale
distribution center. This 60,000-square-foot facility was completed in 2007 and
today serves more than 1,400 wholesale customers who feature Walnut Creek Foods
products in their stores. This move vacated a large part of our back room that
we converted to retail. We were able to give our departments more space to serve
our customers better. We continued the nostalgic
theme in our design because we truly have values that are
time-tested.
Today our customers
continue to talk to their friends about our store. We're seeing new people in
our store every week. Why do folks want to do business with us? Because
…
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They trust us.
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They know we deliver
value.
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We’re blessed with 220
associates who have the customers’ best interests at heart.
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We treat others like we
want to be treated.
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Visiting our store is just
plain fun!
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