Quality Is the Key to Delicious Dishes
Article By: Paul Long Photos By: Josh Triggs First-time visitors to the Red Fox Creamery might have a difficult time believing the popular ice cream parlor has only been in Old Town Winchester for a little more than seven years. Since opening her doors in December 2010, owner Kathy Puffinburger has seen her business quickly grow into one of the most popular destinations in town, developing a loyal following typically associated with establishments that have been here for decades. They come for Red Fox’s signature homemade ice cream cones, shakes, malts and sundaes, but they’re also drawn by the restaurant’s lunch menu, which features sandwiches, soups, salads and chili. And, for those in the mood for something that’s sweet but not necessarily cold, Red Fox Creamery offers home-baked brownies, cookies, cakes and pies. Puffinburger is flexible when it comes to her customers’ requests. “You tell us what you want,” she says, “and we’ll make it for you.” During the winter months when foot traffic on the downtown walking mall is often scarce, Red Fox might see 40 or 50 customers per day. During the warmer months, though, it’s a different story. “In the summer, if we get fewer than 200 people in a day, I’m shocked,” Puffinburger says. Nearly 15 years ago, Puffinburger was an accountant before deciding to go into business for herself. Though she lived in Winchester at the time, she had passed through the Loudoun County town of Middleburg several times and thought it would be a good place to set up shop. She started out selling Virginia-themed items. She soon began offering Hershey’s ice cream before shifting her focus to a homemade product. Despite its small size, Middleburg boasts a thriving business community. When she was there, Puffinburger said, there were 16 different places where someone could grab lunch. It was expensive, too. She was paying $3,100 a month in rent, which contributed to her decision to close up shop in 2008 and open a production facility on Cameron Street in Winchester. Now, she was paying just $500 a month in rent. She and her son and business partner, Brian Lewis, were bringing an ice cream trailer to numerous fairs and festivals throughout the area. Still, Puffinburger missed having a store where she could interact with her customers on a daily basis, so she opened Red Fox Creamery at 130 N. Loudoun St. in December 2010. It didn’t take more than a couple of months, she says, for the legal community and other downtown professionals to start showing up on a regular basis. In April 2012, she moved a few doors down the walking mall...
Farm Fresh Food All Year: A Fresh Idea
Article By: Lisa Wood Photos By: Josh Triggs Bushel and Peck, a new, farmer-focused supermarket in Charles Town, WV, makes it easier to know where your food comes from while continuing to enjoy fresh items all year long. Just like the organic craze, this is legitimately a “thing” now, and with the influx of documentaries lamenting the unsavory practices that can occur with the production of produce, grains, meat, and dairy items before they reach our dinner plates, a supermarket of this caliber is a welcomed sight. What makes Bushel and Peck’s charter all the more refreshing is that the owners only stock items from local farmers and distributors. This dedication to the prosperity of the people in the area impacts the local economy in a big way. Stocking food from farmers that practice ethical methods allows health-conscious shoppers to believe in the quality of their food again. It’s a win-win in every sense of the term. There’s something to be said about being able to ask from which farm food items were sourced and get a location that is no more than 60 miles away. It harkens to times past, when the milkman delivered fresh pints twice a week. For Todd Coyle, a member of the Jefferson Gap Coalition, which oversees Bushel and Peck, it’s a dream come true. It all started with a farmers market – the Charles Town Farmer’s Market, to be exact. This community staple, which boasts up to 45 vendors every season, services the community with very much the same principles that Bushel and Peck does. The farmers and artisans who participate are local to the area and believe in providing the customers that attended the event with natural products that were cultivated organically. The problem is that when the weather breaks and the outdoor activity season is over, access to so many local vendors in one place is gone. This not only impacts the people who enjoy the products they can find in the grassroots setting that they were unable to find in their supermarket, but also the farmers that participate, from both an economic and distribution perspective. Bushel and Peck changes that. Now people will have access to fresh, locally grown foods from accessible farmers year-round, not just from April to October. Subsequently, these farmers will be able to service the community throughout the year and remain solvent through the winter months, positively impacting their personal financial position and the local economy. Todd Coyle and Fiona Harrison were on the board that supports the farmers market. The time dedicated to the effort helped them to understand what it took to create a...
Roasting, an Expression of Flavor
Article By: M.T. Decker Photos By: Josh Triggs Coffee. It’s almost a ritual for a lot of us. Some drink it for the caffeine, some drink it for the flavor; there are a lot of coffee drinkers out there, and we all have our favorites. One of the biggest problems we as coffee drinkers have is consistency. While everyone’s tastes are different, we know what we like, and we want to be able to have our favorite coffee any time. We’ve all had that cup of coffee that was perfect and when we go back to get another cup, with that flavor in mind, we’re disappointed because it wasn’t what we were expecting. It happens when you go to a different shop in a chain, and sometimes even the same store. There are a lot of things that go into a good cup of coffee. I used to think it was just the water or how recently the coffee was ground, but there is so much more involved in making that perfect cup of coffee. Talk to Sean Ricks of Ricks Roasters if you don’t believe me. When I asked him what the key step to making a good cup of coffee was, he explained, “Every step, from the coffee plant to your cup is key.” I mean, we all know that the soil and the plant are the basic flavor of the coffee. It’s why we buy Guatemalan, Indonesian, Kona, pure Arabica or Peaberry. It’s the soil, the bean and the growing season, that make for good beans and the base flavor of our coffee. Once the beans are grown, the next step becomes key – how is it prepared? Is it dried in the sun the traditional way, are the beans green, or ripe? How is it packaged and shipped to the roaster? Is it roasted on site or delivered by a roaster? Then there is the roasting process itself; that’s where Ricks Roasters shines. When Sean and Keely Ricks decided to start a business together, the plan was to market and sell an Indonesian coffee Rick had enjoyed when he was stationed in Singapore. They both loved coffee and Sean knew sales and marketing; it was the perfect match. Unfortunately, the Ricks never could find the roasters so they decided instead of distributing someone else’s coffee, they would roast their own. Building on what they knew of coffee, they started working on mastering the skill of roasting coffee. From the time their business plan shifted and they purchased their first roaster, it took them one week to deliver their first pound of coffee. With the help...
For Shipping And More – Goin’ Postal
Between the holiday retail sales, Black Friday frenzy and a dutiful list to checkoff, purchasing presents can be the easy part of the holidays, but what about shipping those presents? Goin’ Postal takes the hassle out of shipping and helps reduce that stress, whether during the holidays or any time of the year. Goin’ Postal, in Martinsburg, has been a shipping option for residents since 2007, however new management has led to significant changes to the business, all aimed at making shipping easier and faster for customers. Jason Barrett took over ownership of Goin’ Postal in June 2016 and has been working toward making the business more customer service based and a true community partner. “It was something that was new to me. It’s not a business I’ve been involved with before, the shipping business, but I’m always up for a new challenge. And it certainly was in the very beginning,” Barrett said. “When I first bought the business I let it run for about 60 days or so because it was so new to me. I just wanted to see how things operated first.” After the initial 60 days, however, the changes came fast. Barrett first decided to reduce the charges and pricing for shipping items in order to make the business more competitive. Additional changes included increasing the benefits and awareness of Goin’ Postal’s mail boxes available for rent by residents and businesses. Since the mail boxes have a physical address, residents or businesses renting a box can receive packages from FedEx, UPS and DHL – an international shipping service. Barrett lowered the rate of the mail boxes to match the price of postal boxes at the United States Postal Office as well as offers three free months rent with the purchase of a box for a year. Barrett and the store’s staff have also worked toward making the store more of a community-based business by becoming involved with local philanthropic groups both during the holiday season and year-round. “We are a drop off site for the Berkeley County Humane Society and a drop off site for Toys for Tots during the holidays. We do Cell Phones for Soliders, and we’re a drop off location for the Berkeley County BackPack Program. We also do pet photos with Santa in December. That has been an annual event since Goin’ Postal opened in 2007,” said Sherry Presley, manager for Goin’ Postal. One of Barrett’s most significant changes though was not in policy or pricing but in personnel. After those initial 60 days, Barrett learned of the positive impact former employee Sherry had had on customers and the store with...
A Unique Way of Helping Cats Find New Homes
Article By: Tricia Lynn Strader Photos By: Josh Triggs There’s a new, unique way of getting to know and adopt feline friends. It’s called a “cat café.” The only local cat café in the area is Give Purrs a Chance in Berkeley Springs. Prospective adoptive cat parents can come, look, and play with the cute critters. Feline and human can try each on for size before making the ultimate commitment. The idea of the “cat café” began in Asia a few years back. The world’s first cat café, Cat Flower Garden, opened in Taipei, Taiwan, in 1998. The Taiwanese cat café eventually became a tourist destination, attracting tourists from Japan and all over the globe. Though the origin of cat café is in Taiwan, it really took off in Japan, where the first one was opened in Osaka in 2004. Originally, the theme of a café whose attraction is cats was so that busy people could pay a fee to watch and play with the cats without the permanent commitment. Japan is a crowded country, and many residents live in small apartments or condominiums where pets are not allowed. Workers could go to a cat café for the companionship and comfort offered. Cat Café has been officially recognized in the Oxford Dictionary since 2015. Cat Cafes have been popping up in North America since 2014 as a tool for pet adoption. Thousands of animals have been adopted through their efforts. At Give Purrs a Chance, founder George Farnham says people come from miles around. “Most of the cat cafes are in major cities,” says George. “We’re the first one in a rural area. We have more cats than others, and we have the biggest square footage. “Their temporary home is a large five-bedroom Victorian home in the heart of Berkeley Springs. Adult cats have the full run of the house. Kittens are kept in two bedrooms. He says there are around 75 such cafes in the U.S., but there is no formal organization overseeing them. Each one is independent. “It’s the wave of the future,” he says. “We’ve adopted out 90 cats in a little over six months. We opened Mother’s Day weekend. “Give Purrs a Chance is a 501c3. George is founder and president. His board members are Jackie Lewis, who used to own a pet supply store, and Laurie Fischer. Adopting out 90 cats in only six months of operation is a great record. George says the closest other cat café, in Washington, D.C., adopted 125 their first year of operation. Statistics vary, with some helping 25 in the first year or on average, 100. He believes...
The Essence of Community
When you think of a small town, several images come to mind – ones of warmth and acceptance, familiarity and civility: the very essence of community. If images of a farmer’s market and a general store bring on nostalgia, if a morning drive brings images of community members waving hello to each other as they pass on the street – if these are things you value, you are not alone. Reed’s Pharmacy, with personal care programs and patient-oriented service, nurtures that endearing sense of community in a time when the hustle and bustle of life can make business impersonal. Reed’s Pharmacy stands out in the communities in which they do business, fostering a sense of kinship with their patrons. Their approach to the work they do has not gone unnoticed. Customers come away from an interaction with the owners and staff at Reed’s with a sense that their needs have been met on a holistic level. It is personal. It is comprehensive. It is friendly. This unique attention to detail is what the partners at Reed’s Pharmacy pride themselves on, but it is not surprising when you consider the company’s origin. After decades of friendship, Ken and Tally Reed, Mark and Vicki Williams, and Craig and Amy Hatcher decided to pursue their mutual goal of helping people and serving the community. The friends wanted to find a way to satisfy a need in the communities they loved, but do so in a way that would make a true impact in their customers lives. Their shared interest in pharmaceuticals as well as in business (five out of the six partners graduated from Pharmaceutical programs from West Virginia, Maryland, and Ohio universities) drove these college friends toward a reality that now helps many West Virginians, Marylanders, and Virginians. Acting as consultations, drug reviewers, liaisons, and a helpful second set of eyes for doctors and patients alike, the pharmacists at Reed’s Pharmacy consider it their duty to make sure that their customers understand their medication profile and how changes impact them. They go above and beyond filling prescription orders. They take a specific interest in their customers’ needs and help them to live their best lives. This dedication to people started with one store. Twenty years later they have 5 locations: three in West Virginia, one in Maryland, and one in Virginia. In 1997, the first Reed’s Pharmacy was opened in Berkeley Springs, WV off Rte. 522 by Ken and Tally Reed. With a community spirit in mind, the couple invested in a tract of land that they turned into a commercial hub. The Reeds built a strip mall and filled it...
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