Interview with Todd Butterbaugh - The Wharf - Ventura, CA

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Transcript

Interview with Todd Butterbaugh, partner of The Wharf in Ventura, CA.

Paul Ward: Hey everyone. It’s Paul Ward here and welcome to another edition of Farm Talk. I’m so excited today because we have Todd Butterbaugh from The Wharf in Ventura. Todd, welcome to the show. 

Todd Butterbaugh: This is exciting. It’s definitely a big change of pace. I’ve never done this before. 

Paul Ward: Great. Well, we’re happy to have you. So Todd we’re here at The Wharf, which is a Ventura institution. I understand you have been in business, or the company has been in business for over 100 years,

Todd Butterbaugh: Correct. It’s changed a lot since then. 1916 was the first year where we were at the end of the pier and it was a totally different animal back then. So it’s changed a lot.

Paul Ward: And did your grandfather start the store?

Todd Butterbaugh: No, he didn’t. It had been around for probably 30 or 40 years. They got involved in the forties when they moved from Illinois out into the area. 

Paul Ward: And you know, just walking into the store, it’s such a diverse array of items. You’ve got pet food, you’ve got jewelry, you’ve got Western wear, work wear, saddlery here in the showroom. It’s just an eclectic mix. 

Todd Butterbaugh: I think it’s evolution, a hundred years of evolution. I don’t think anyone would think of this to just come up (and think) ‘Let’s do a hundred years of just a lot of changes, a lot of different things.’ It started out as The Wharf and Warehouse Company at the end of the pier. The trucks and the boats would come in and they would unload and store things at the end of the pier. That’s how The Wharf started. Obviously that’s not what we’re doing anymore. A lot of evolution. 

Paul Ward: And now you’ve moved to a different location, just a couple blocks away. 

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah, back in the 60’s. So we were at the end of the pier; pretty nice location. At the end of the 60’s, they decided to make a freeway through Ventura and the eminent domain said, “This is your new location because the freeway was more important than your sweet spot.” So they moved us into this location.

Paul Ward: Now who are the primary customers? Is it kind of an out of town walk through or people that just kind of know the institution over time and it’s such an array of different products?

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. I would say we were originally a pet and feed store and so that’s our heritage; that is animals, horse customers, pet customers were our original. It’s evolved since then with our apparel business but really a horse customer would be original. We’ve changed so much that we’re not really just a Western store anymore. We sell more dog things than we do horse things; we sell more shoes than boots. Not that boots aren’t important, they are our heritage but we just really diversified over time.

Paul Ward: And there’s a lot of quality. So you’ve got obviously multiple suppliers and you don’t have an online presence. How do you find such good quality but also with the online world kind of keep it going. 

Todd Butterbaugh: Our heritage. My dad’s quote, “People long forget the price and always remember the quality.” So, we want people’s favorite saddle or favorite shirt and they always love it and they love their new thing. That’s kind of what we’ve always been about. We’ve never wanted to just sell the cheap thing that falls apart and then you get something new and that’s just always been the heritage. I think that’s because we’ve been around for a hundred years. So, the brands are important, whether it’s a Circle Y saddle or a Pendleton shirt or whatever it is. I mean, that’s really what it’s been about. People really love those types of products.

Paul Ward: Absolutely. I also understand that you have events, obviously when it’s not a COVID world, hopefully that’s coming to an end, but I understand you have animal events and that kind of stuff.

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. We’ve quite a few different types of events. We’ve had a pet fair where we have a lot of vendors and pet contests and take up our whole parking lot. We’ve had equine speakers come talk about training. We’ve had chicken talks, we’ve had a couple of major clearance sales where we set up tents in the parking lot. So there’s been a lot of fun things that we’ve done to bring people in. We’re a community business. We like to do these community organized events and they are a lot of work, but they are a lot of fun so they’re worth it.

Paul Ward: Great. So we’re hopefully nearing the end of the pandemic. Hopefully in the next few months, people are starting to get their shots. So everybody’s kind of anxious to get out and have some sense of normalcy. How was The Wharf; how were you impacted by the pandemic?

Todd Butterbaugh: It’s been really interesting. We kind of have two businesses in a way. Across the parking lot is our pet and feed supply and our apparel store. Our apparel store was closed for a couple of months. So a lot of people, we did have to shut down. Luckily, it was only a couple months. So our feed store has been open ever since. People were nervous. I mean, customers were nervous. There was a little bit of a run on product, actually. It wasn’t quite like toilet paper but people were buying lots of dog food or lots of “horse” this and that. So we did have a little run of people buying things. There was a lot of panic and people were getting ready to shut it down. And it’s been difficult for our employees.

I mean, we’ve been on the front line since day one and with so many questions and so many nervous feelings about what’s happening and what we should be doing. So there’s been no right or wrong answer. It’s just been difficult. It’s been hard to get products because companies are really struggling on getting things. So we’ve had to plan months in advance just to get the products. So it’s been a lot more difficult but we’ve been busy. I mean, people need things for their pets. They need things to work. They need things that we have. So we kind of are a “need business” with people; they need the stuff we have. So I think that’s kept us going. They kind of just float. 

Paul Ward: You kind of get the sense that everybody’s anxious obviously to get back to normalcy and supposedly the economy is about to boom again. Do you kind of have any expectations on that?

Todd Butterbaugh: I could see that because we’ve been strong. We were busier than normal because I guess, I don’t know why, you know, you never know why you’re slower than normal. You never know why you’re busier than normal. So I feel that could be the case. I mean, I don’t think it’s going to slow down. We’re busier than normal and there’s confidence out there. People are confident to be out in stores. You can just see people’s attitudes have totally changed over the last six to eight months that they’re ready. 

Paul Ward: Are you involved in 4H at all with the array of pet products?

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. We’ve been involved in 4H for many decades and we’ve sold the feed. We have the clothes that they need to wear for the shows. We’ve sponsored a number of things in 4H over the years and we still sell all the equipment they need. So it’s always been fun to be involved and we try and make the auction just about every year and try to get some animals and support those kids. Nothing is more fun than that, it’s a great experience.

Paul Ward: I always do the add on contribution. I never want to buy a side of beef or a whole lamb, but you know, I always like to make the add on.

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. That’s a big commitment. Otherwise you would have to almost buy a freezer and have about five friends to share it with. 

Paul Ward: What about saddles? I mean, you’ve got some beautiful saddles here. A wide array of manufacturers?

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. I mean we have quite a wide array. There’s handmade, there’s every different kind of leather. It’s just beautiful work. It’s neat. People, you know, the city folk out there that walk in and they look at the saddles and they think, “Well, what’s going on here?” It’s just fun to look up close at all the workmanship and everything that goes into that kind of Western lifestyle stuff. So it’s pretty neat. There’s more horse people around than people realize, Ventura, it’s a beach town, but really everywhere surrounding us. I mean, you could go five miles in every direction and there’s a horse, but people just don’t really realize that. 

Paul Ward: Absolutely true. So what are customers interested in right now?

Todd Butterbaugh: Well, you know, our diversity makes that a pretty wide question and one of our all long-term commitments is to sell out of a full wagon. We have a lot of merchandise. So whether you’re looking for work boots or jeans or pet foods or all those things, we kind of overdo it. We want to be a destination. So we do get a lot of questions. Do you have this dog feed? Do you have this? Do you have that? There’s a lot of specialty questions, whether it’s, pet food health or I have this problem. Those are things that we like to specialize at. So, it’s almost like, “Hey, you don’t need to go to a vet because you’re having a problem with your dog.” You probably could just come and talk about your food or whatever that is.

So I think there’s a lot of technical questions we get because we want to be “experts” in our field, whether it’s pet supplies or horse equipment or work boots or Western boots. So there’s a lot of diversity but that’s one of our commitments to get people to come here versus (of course) you can always buy something on the internet, but do you know what it is? Do you know much about it? So when somebody walks out of here, we want them to feel like, “Okay, I had a problem, they talked to me about it. They gave me some solutions and I feel good about it. I feel like I have the right thing.” I think that’s really important to people.

Paul Ward: The sales associate knows what they’re talking about for that department?

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. We’re lucky to have a crew that is really experienced. Whether it’s our gal that works in the saddle department. She’s been with us for almost 20 years. The gentleman who works in our Western department and the clothing store- he’s been with us for a decade. We have a couple of our managers that have been here for quite a while. So they’ve learned a lot and they teach us a lot too. There’s just a lot to know and they know a lot. So when people come in here and they want to know something, you know, we generally know.

Paul Ward: That’s great. You’re definitely not going to get that when you order something online.

Todd Butterbaugh: Yeah. We don’t have a website anymore. We had a website for a while but, you know, we’re a business and everybody has a website to make money. First of all, it’s hard to make money online, but it’s also a big distraction to what we’re trying to do here. We want to have a great shopping environment for people. We want it to be fun. We want it to be interesting. We want it to be family and we want it to be local. To be honest, websites aren’t those things. That’s really what we are. We’ve been here for a hundred years. So not having a website has almost been a blessing for us because it doesn’t really represent what we are. “There’s a pair of jeans. I can buy those.” So that’s really not what we are. We try to be interesting. We try to be local. People ask, especially during the pandemic, “You don’t have a website?” It’s like, “No.” “Are you going to get one?” “No, it’s not really what we are.” And I think thats okay.

Paul Ward: That’s right. Speaking of jeans. I bought a pair at the store this morning and asked the sales rep if they had a specific size, cause it’s an odd size and nobody ever has it, you had it! So I was like, “Oh my gosh, that’s great!”

Todd Butterbaugh: Can’t sell out of an empty wagon, right. It might’ve been sitting out there for a while, since it’s a weird size.

Paul Ward: Now I know where to go. So who are your core customers?

Todd Butterbaugh: Well, you know, being a pet and feed background, I would say, farm, ranch, horse. I would like to think people involved in the farming community have been here. I mean, that is really our background and our core person. So ranch, rough and tumble apparel. You know, you have chickens, you have anything you have. I mean, really we are based in the background of the farming community. So that’s super important to us and there’s a lot of familiar faces and that’s kind of what we’re all about.

Paul Ward: That’s great. And I also think, because your store is so diverse, you have to kind of keep up on trends, right? I mean, you have the dog foods that other stores don’t have. You’re not just selling Purina, you’ve got specialty products that other stores don’t have and kind of what are the trends in each of those different areas that you sell?

Todd Butterbaugh: It moves. It does move fast. There’s always new products to see. We do want to experiment with new products because we want it to be interesting and we want to be ahead of the game but we also listen to our customers too. If we have people asking for a product, “Do you have this?” We’ll say, “Hmm, maybe we should get that?” That’s half the time, you know, people ask for it and we just get it because that’s the local people wanting a certain thing. We can bring it in. So we experiment but we also listen to people to decide which direction to go.

Paul Ward: That’s great. So thank you, Todd Butterbaugh for being a guest on our show, Farm Talk, we greatly appreciate it. This episode was brought to you by The Money Store and Escrow Hub. Be sure to tune in for the next episode of Farm Talk.