Today we’d like to introduce you to Tracy Darr.
Hi Tracy, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
John and I were married in 1995, and we combined our businesses. He did landscaping, and I wholesale produce. We named our store Stanleys Produce and Garden Center. We opened on April 1, 1996. We were in the old farm connection location on West Market Street, now O’Reilly’s Auto Parts. We were there for 3 years, and an opportunity opened for us to purchase property right down the road at 3308 West Market Street, Johnson City, in 1999. We have been in business for 27 years. We were a thriving business until 9-11. Then, we had to re-invent our business. We dropped the landscaping business and began a Bakery along with our produce. John and I had an extensive background in the food industry before beginning the garden center and produce business. We decided to start the Bakery business, which has worked out wonderfully. We offer homemade Old Fashion Bakery items and 12 different kinds of Pimento cheeses. We host a monthly cooking segment on our local TV station, WJHL Daytime Tri-cities. We travel around 40 weekends yearly to Vintage market days in the southeast and northeast. Our shows start in Ft. Meyers, FL. We work through Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in February. We do these while running our produce stand and Bakery in Johnson City, TN. We are a small family-owned business. Our 2 sons also help us, along with a sister and brother-in-law.
Let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you had to overcome?
When the attacks on our country on 9-11 happened, it was devastating to our business. We made most of our living through the lawn care and garden center. After the attack, businesses shut down, people lost jobs and were laid off. They were not buying trees, shrubs, flowers, or using our lawn care services. So we almost lost everything. A dear businessman bought our property so we could stay in business. It took a lot of work to begin the Bakery business. But we began to prosper when we joined the Vintage Market Days Circuit.
I appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Stanley’s Produce & Bakery?
We have always offered the very best produce we could get. We buy from local farmers when in season. We also buy from the same farmers when out of season, beginning in Florida and working our way up the coast as fruit and veggies are ready to harvest. We are well known for having the freshest and very best fruit, veggies, bakery items, and Pimento cheese. We are different from other bakeries. We make old-fashioned sweet bread, including banana bread, strawberry bread, apple cinnamon, and pumpkin bread: pumpkin rolls, cookies, carrot cake, red velvet cake, and fried apple Pie. We also make seasonal items such as fruit cake (a 1946 recipe )—pumpkin pies, pecan pies, apple dumplings, homemade candies, etc. Many of our recipes are handed down from our parents, grandparents, etc. We are becoming popular because of our Pimento cheeses. We offer 11 varieties- Regular, Jalapeno, Jalapeno bacon, Asiago, Gruyere, Merlot, TN whiskey, Kalama olive, Sundried Tomato, Blue Cheese, and 3X Jalapeno. We only use the finest cheeses from the Amish in Pennsylvania and Ohio. We take pride in everything we make. It has to be the best anyone has ever tasted, or we won’t sell it. We want others to visit us at our store or follow us and visit us at our Vintage Market Days shows. We do offer shipping, but shipping Pimento cheese is very costly.
What were you like growing up?
I was the youngest of 11 children. We worked hard and were brought up with stern work ethics. My husband John was the oldest of 3 and was raised the same as I was. I began working at 14, and so did my husband. We work hard, live life, and spend time with our boys, family, and friends.
Pricing:
- Pimento cheeses- $10.00- $15.00
- Sweet breads- $6.00-$8.00
- Old Fashion Fried Apple pies- $5.00
- Carrot cake, red velvet cake- $8.00
- Pumpkin rolls- $10.00 -$30.00
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Stanleys produce & Bakery
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/stanleysproduce
