After opening in 2005 and experiencing hardship during the 2008 recession, Remnant Farms Feed and Supply store owner Rick Pettit says the impacts from 2023 road closures have created the most difficult situation he and his business have been through.
Remnant Farms has a little bit of everything including live animals, a large selection of dog and cat products, feed and other livestock supplies. In total, an owner of just about any pet can find what they are looking for at the local family owned and operated business. Remnant Farms caters to wild and domestic birds, small animals, dogs, cats, reptiles, goats, cattle and equine products.
To cut costs after experiencing a lengthy road closure that reduced monthly clientele by over half in 2023, Pettit said he had to cut his team of four down to two, which includes himself.
It wasn’t a sudden halt to business, but an extended road closure and poor signage by the city of Woodland that has spawned a major financial setback for Pettit and his business, he said.
Pettit said both lanes of Guild Road were closed in front of his business, along with many others from August 2023 through November 2023.
“Originally, we were told it would be one lane at a time, and then the public works manager at the time made the executive decision that the whole road was going to be closed,” he said. “The signage on Schurman Way was misleading, so even though there was a detour and even thought that it was open most of the time, the sign left you thinking it was closed.”
Now, a year and half later, the financial effects are still hitting hard. Through a GoFundMe effort, customers and community members are trying to help out. Pettit said he plans to use the funds to provide more feed.
Pettit believes the Fourth Amendment was ignored in his case as well. Instead of the city of Woodland providing financial relief for lost clientele, he said it was passed on to the construction company’s insurance, which has left him largely without recourse.
“When the founding fathers wrote the Fourth Amendment, they didn’t put a clause in there that if it’s inconvenient for the government to reimburse you for your loss, they don’t have to,” said Pettit. “I didn’t read that anywhere in there. It just says ‘shall.’ So that kind of means you should.”
Pettit still hopes that the Woodland city government will make it right, as he currently is down $300,000 and counting, he estimated. February was the worst month he’s had in business in a decade, Pettit added.
“In the meantime, I’m depending on loyal customers to keep shopping here. I’m buying what I can with cash,” he said. “... We are doing our best to stay afloat. I’m not a quitter. If I was, I would have quit a long time ago. During the last 20 years, we’ve had a couple bad times, one being 2008. This one that the city caused is worse than 2008.”
Pettit said he does believe the loyal customer base, old and new, will eventually get the local feed store back on track. Standing in a feed room that was down in product, Pettit said his vision is to one day be able to afford to have the room fully stocked again.
For new residents to the region, Pettit said his business may be out of the way for some, but the experience is like going back in time and shopping at the feed stores of old.
“When I was a kid, we went to Agco in Battle Ground,” he said. “It was a building, it’s still there over by the railroad tracks, and it had wood floors and stuff like this and a bog dock you backed up to. It was just an experience in itself and I think we bring a lot of that same experience here.”
Remnant Farms Feed and Supply is located at 1501 Guild Road in Woodland and is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. They can be contacted by calling 564-274-0473 and are online at remnantfarms.com as well as Facebook under the company name.
To donate to the GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com/f/support-remnant-farms-keep-our-feed-store-alive.
