DENVER — Navigating through the winter months can be challenging for small business owners who rely heavily on sales through farmer's markets. Rachel Dunhoff is hoping to use her storefront to alleviate some of that burden.
A hobby for mushroom growing turned into a business for Dunhoff, who now owns Fox Fungi, an urban mushroom farm near downtown Denver that grows a variety of gourmet mushrooms, from oyster to Chautauqua mushrooms.
"The first year... we were in four [farmer's markets]. We did two on a Saturday and two on a Sunday," said Dunhoff. "We were reaching out to restaurants, bringing in samples. So we did have a little bit of a wholesale market. The first two years were really, really tough."
Dunhoff still recalls the immense amount of community support that pushed them into the blooming mushroom business it is today.
"We had a great year this year. There were some weeks we were up to 18 markets," said Dunhoff. "This year, we expanded quite a bit, brought on some employees for the first time this year, tested some different areas that we haven't been in."
The changing of the seasons marks the end of farmer's markets, with vendors saying goodbye to their regulars and each other. Dunhoff realized she could help her farmer's market friends sell their goods during the off-season by filling the storefront of her business with local products.
"We're not growing as much and had just started reaching out to some friends that we've had over the last few years and asked if they had an interest in joining us as more of a co-op, and I think everybody said yes," Dunhoff said.
Now, the shelves of her storefront are overflowing with local produce and goods from all around the Denver metro area thanks to the Farmer Fox and Friends co-op.
"What started as 20 vendors went to 30, went to 40. And we have over 60 small businesses now in about four weeks," Dunhoff said.
Christina and Julian Salas, owners of Don Zorros Molino, have their tortilla chips for sale inside the store. Christina said this concept will help generate revenue for her small business during a traditionally slow time.
"We're trying to strategize how do we market that, how do we advertise that. And [it] just kind of starts with just one item in a place, and then it kind of trickles down from there," Christina said.
The same message was echoed by Christopher Rice, owner of the mocktail company Cool As A Cucumber.
"Just kind of getting the word out and now turning to something like Farmer Fox and Friends is awesome because it gives us an opportunity to be in people's hands and mouths that wouldn’t be able to try us otherwise," he said.
Looking at the full display at Farmer Fox and Friends, Dunhoff was moved to tears recalling the special bond made on those days spent selling products at the farmer's markets.
"Normally, we’re selling mycology supplies in the winter. And now we have a storefront of what looks like a little market," Dunhoff said.
Despite the financial challenges that come in the off-season, this marketplace brings hope, along with a source of additional revenue, to local vendors by bringing their products into the hands of community members.
"Being a small business, obviously you go through a lot of highs, a lot of lows. And in those lows, it's trying to figure out how to get out of them sometimes," said Salas. "When opportunities like the community that you have present itself, that really does say, 'Okay, we're doing the right thing. We're where we should be, and we're enjoying what we're doing.'"
Farmer Fox and Friends is located in the storefront of Fox Fungi at 2370 South Kalamath Street, Unit D, in Denver. It's open every day from noon to 6 p.m.
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