Today we’d like to introduce you to Lidia Andronic.
Lidia, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Belmont Feed & Seed was opened in 1989 in a small room at the current location by two partners. It was started to supply the growing need for pigeon feed and pigeon supplies. Both of the partners were Pigeon Racers that were actively competing in the sport of pigeon racing that was known as a gentleman’s sport in the early to mid-1900s. Pigeon Racing is the competition of raising and training homing pigeons that have the natural ability to travel back to their home from distances up to hundreds of miles away and timing them in a competition against other competitors’ birds. Over time they added other exotic and small bird supplies and also poultry supplies which was a small portion of their business at that time. Soon enough Belmont Feed & Seed became a neighborhood bird store and a place for Pigeon Racers to sit and chat about last week’s race while drinking coffee hence the old slogan “where the coffee pot is always on”. From 2002 to 2004 the store changed owners to another active pigeon racing hobbyist. In September of 2004 our family purchased the store. It was run down and had very few customers at the time. My husband raced pigeons for hobby and often purchased his feed through the store. When we purchased the store in 2004 we saw a need for better management and a need for an increase in sales or it was surely on its way out. One of the original owners, Bob, was still working at the store and happened to be a poultry expert. We saw a growing need for poultry supplies in Chicago and conveniently, we had Bob, an expert in poultry and birds, working for us. He brought poultry expertise to the table and as new owners we listened and absorbed as much as we could. Bob worked at the store from the day it opened until 2010. The poultry business grew due to the increased demand for backyard chickens. Later, many of our backyard poultry keeping customers suggested that we move into selling beekeeping products. We decided to move in that direction to fill the growing demands of our customers, making us the first beekeeping store in Chicago. I already had knowledge in beekeeping from my father who kept bees in Romania. Today, we offer the community a wide variety of supplies for Poultry, Beekeeping, Pigeon Racing, Pigeon Fancying, Exotic & Small Birds, and other Farm Animals. We also sell live birds, live baby chicks/other poultry, live bee packages, pigeons and bedding such as bales of straw and so much more. Since we are located in Chicago, most of our customers keep their pets in their backyards or on their rooftops in tighter settings. We have become Chicago’s number one store for the backyard farmer. We have also grown awesome relationships with many of our customers who see Belmont Feed & Seed not only as a store but also a hub for information for each of our specialties. Since we purchased the store we have greatly increased its stock and variety, built a website and online presence and have served growing numbers of customers with many of their backyard farming needs.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When we started we found ourselves trying to grow the business and not having enough to work with. Many business owner would say the same. We were working long hours, doing the work ourselves and often going in the negative but remaining consistent and persevering through it all. It was and still is difficult finding qualified help for day to day tasks as we move a lot of bulk 50 lb. bags of poultry and pigeon feeds. It has been difficult attempting to update an old system. When we took the leap into Beekeeping Supplies we were going into it knowing that it was a niche hobby, which can be risky for a business, but to this day we are still pleasantly surprised to the growing number of people interested in keeping bees.
Belmont Feed and Seed – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Belmont Feed & Seed is Chicago’s specialty store for people that keep Pigeons, Bees, Chickens, Small Birds, and other poultry and farm animals in an urban setting. Our store has been in business for over 25 years and the love we have for these hobbies have carried us through these years.
We are a family owned, very special and unique store located right in the City of Chicago. The reason our store is so special is because it carries an interesting variety of products for people that have decided to keep poultry, farm animals and bees in an urban setting. Our establishment and our increase is at the demand of a growing population of people that want to hold on to the special characteristics of humans to cultivate, reproduce and nurture animals. The bond between humans and animals has always been a mutually beneficial and powerful relationship that is considered essential to the health and well-being of both. This beautiful bond between humans and nature is what we and our customers are able to cherish by finding products to strengthen and increase this bond right here at our store. Over the years man-kind has become progressively further from the human-animal bond, however, there are a growing number of people that are longing to hold on to these virtues. We love to be here for those people.
For The Backyard Poultry Keeper
Our customers don’t need to buy eggs at the market anymore! A growing number of people are raising chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys and other poultry right in their backyards. Here at our store they find everything they need to keep poultry in their backyard including feed, medications, bedding, supplies, and supplements. Not only that but our store has been selling live baby chicks and other baby poultry like ducks, geese, turkeys, and quails for years! Our helpful staff can also answer any questions related to the products that we carry.
For The Urban Beekeeper
The truth is that we are Chicago’s first beekeeping supply store. It is also true to say that there are urban beekeepers right here in Chicago that are striving to keep the decreasing bee population alive. They are a group of people keeping bee hives on roof tops, in gardens, and in backyards no matter the size of the lot that they are on. These bees have an amazing impact on urban gardens as they pollinate millions of plants, and flowers across the cities. For this cause, we are here to supply the urban beekeeper with all of his/her beekeeping needs including hive tools, hive bodies and supers, hive equipment, beekeeping protective equipment, smokers, bee medications, and so much more. We also sell live bee packages, live working hives, and queen bees to make starting or expanding your apiary that much easier.
For The Pigeon Racer
25 years ago this store was opened to serve a large number of pigeon racers from Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Iowa and other states. To this day, we pride ourselves in specializing in pigeon racing products including a wide variety of pigeon feeds, a collection of medications to treat every pigeon sickness or disease, a grand inventory of supplements to keep your birds healthy and strong and also numerous other loft supplies needed for racing pigeons. Many of our customers are actively pigeon racing as a sport and a hobby. Our store also offers pigeon racing expertise and information about how you could get involved in the growing sport of Pigeon Racing.
-Pigeon racing is the sport of transporting specially trained pigeons and then releasing them all at the same time, which then have the mission of returning to their individual homes. The time it takes the animal to cover the carefully measured and specified distance is recorded and the bird’s rate of travel is calculated and compared with all of the other pigeons in the race to determine which pigeon returned at the fastest speed. In the mid-1900s pigeon racing was considered a classy gentleman’s sport in America. To this day there are thousands of pigeon racing clubs all across the United States and even more internationally.
For The Pigeon Fancier
We are here to serve Pigeon Fanciers with free information, products, tools, medications and anything that they might need to raise and breed those beautiful pigeons that they are keeping. We have learned that if one is able to keep their birds healthy and happy this shows great leadership and responsibility qualities.
For The Small or Exotic Bird Keepers
This is your humble family owned neighborhood bird store. We are here to supply the bird keeper’s needs and we also sell locally raised small birds like canaries, parakeets, cockatiels, love birds, doves and finches. We have bird feed in both vitamin and non-vitamin styles as well as small toys and cages
Pot Belly Pigs, Horses, Sheep, Goat and other Farm Animals
We carry feeds, supplements and bedding for keeping farm animals in the city.
We have our own pigeon feed mixes and do make certain custom supplements and things of that nature because we are experts in each of the categories of products that we carry and we don’t just sell products that other people make but we actually use the products that we sell for our own personal use. We have proven that they are superior products compared to others by using them on our own pigeons, poultry, livestock, bees and cage birds. We are also connected to huge network of people that constantly give us feedback and have an enormous amount of combined experience. Our store is a hub that facilitates the experience of us using the products ourselves, and our 25+ years of growing connections to other experienced people and organizations, and in turn selling well acclaimed products and also freely giving information to the public about backyard beekeeping, backyard poultry keeping, pigeon racing, pigeon fancying, and more. We make our own mixes and things like that because we know what works and we know what our customers want.
What is “success” or “successful” for you?
Customer satisfaction is the way that we define success. When we see that a customer has found everything that they are looking for including knowledge and expertise that we offer, the purpose of our store is fulfilled. A satisfied customer means a returning customer and a returning costumer’s means another addition to our growing family. Often people come to our store as a hobby to talk about chickens or to talk about last week’s pigeon race and how their birds did in the race. They find a sense of comfort coming to our store knowing that there are other people around the city that love what they love to do for hobby or sport. And the fact that they find a specialized store just for them and that the owners are also just like them is what makes Belmont Feed and Seed a family. It’s a 25+ year family that is growing. People even move to the neighborhood because our store is there, as seen in an episode of house hunters on HGTV. This is ultimately what we judge as success and how we know that we are bettering the community while growing our business to support even more people!
Contact Info:
- Address: 3036 W. Belmont
- Website: www.belmontfeedandseed.com
- Phone: 7735881144
- Email: sales@belmontfeedandseed.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/belmontfandseed
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/belmontfeedandseed
- Twitter: twitter.com/belmontfandseed
- Yelp: www.yelp.com/biz/belmont-feed-and-seed-chicago
Image Credit:
Yessenia Andronic
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