Morgan County’s oldest, continuously run business is undergoing a dramatic change on June 5.
Godfrey’s Feed, founded at its West Jefferson Street manufacturing facility in the late 1870s is moving its retail component to a new location with a new name.
Starting on June 5, according to Montana Dyar, sales and marketing manager, retail customers for Godfrey’s will be welcomed to Lowry’s Feed and Farm Supply on Hanover Street.
The new location, and new name recognizing the first name of three generations of Hunt family men who have managed the business, was conceived as a reaction to a growing business.
“It’s an expansion of what we have at Godfrey’s,” said Dyar. “Our business is growing and we wanted to make it more convenient for our customers.” Godfrey’s Feed has been owned and operated by six generations of the Hunt family.
According to CEO Weyman Hunt, plans for the move have been considered for the past 10 years as the downtown location became busy with retail customers.
”We started doing more and more retail business,” he said. “It was getting hard to get everybody waited on in a reasonable amount of time.”
Godfrey’s Feed will continue to manufacture and package livestock feed at its West Jefferson Street location and will continue to serve wholesale customers out of that location. Retail customers are asked to visit the store on Hanover Street.
“Our downtown location will be closed to retail customers,” Dyar said.
Lowry’s Feed and Farm Supply will provide more than 12,000 square feet of space to include a wide variety of farming supplies. According to Walt Pearson, fertilizer, seed and chemical sales, Lowry’s will offer everything from wildlife food plot seed, deer feeders, fertilizers and herbicides and hunting supplies. The new location provides space for added lines of farm supplies including fencing and gates.
“It’s convenience for our customers and it also helps us have more space,” said Pearson.
Lowry’s will mark the third location associated with Godfrey’s Feed. The company also has a manufacturing facility in DeSoto, Ga.
Currently, Dyar said, Godfrey’s supplies bulk products to more than 60 dealers across the southeast. “This has been a long time coming,” she said.
Hunt said the company believed making the move to Lowry’s for retail customers is a natural response to a growing and demanding business. Retail, he said, “is not insignificant and we expect it to be more.”
Lowry’s will also provide customers with an app that will allow the purchase, payment and notification of when items are ready for pick up on a user’s phone.
On June 15, the company will have a grand opening celebration at the Hanover Street location. Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Tyler Harper is scheduled to speak at the grand opening.
Operating hours for Lowry’s is Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday.
