Imagine there was a way to bring the community together with local food from individuals who have a passion for providing the highest quality products. What if I told you it already exists?
Community, food and handmade goods come together at The Farm Store in Rock Hill, South Carolina. This experience strongly contrasts with the average trip to a large chain grocery store, where individuals often shop alone in a mundane setting, under fluorescent lighting. In those spaces, there is a lack of connection and community as individuals repeat the same generic grocery store experiences over and over again.
But the goal of The Farm Store is to break people away from the melancholy, everyday operations of life. This store is the ultimate sense of community. It’s where people can share something that is important to every race, religion and ethnicity: food.
The origin story
Hannah Boggs is the founder and owner of The Farm Store. She started it under her farm, Kingdom Gardens, in 2023. She said she used to shop at farmers markets “for years and years and we finally decided to open up our own place so we can reclaim our Saturday for family.”
Boggs has a passion for community, healthy fresh food, and supporting local small farmers and vendors.
Boggs said The Farm Store has grown from 20 to 60 vendors in its first three years of operation. For a small store in size, this is an enormous accomplishment. As the community store grows constantly in popularity, one might wonder how vendors get their products displayed in The Farm Store. Most people message Boggs when they want to have their products sold in store. Boggs asks them questions about their garden and their product that they want to sell. If everything checks out, she has them bring it to the store on a Friday, which is their sole day of operation.
Yes, you read that correctly! Boggs explained the special reasoning behind why The Farm Store only operates one day out of the week. The store is open on Fridays from 9 a.m. to noon and then from 3 to 6 p.m. Boggs sees value in it being a “community day.” On busy Fridays, the store is beaming with life, energy and togetherness.
The store fills up with so many different local families and community members, kids playing on the playground, and individuals connecting and meeting each other, Boggs said. Additionally, many of the farmers and vendors that supply the store will come hang out and interact with community members.
This entire operation and experience is what Boggs was aiming for. She cares deeply about community members coming together. She wants them to share something valuable, meet new people, support local entrepreneurs and just have fun.
Let’s talk food!
Boggs explained there are many farmers with small operations. She is passionate about helping them grow their small businesses the right way.
“There are so many codes and restrictions and permits and licenses people have to get to sell everything from eggs to meat to produce,” she said. “You can’t just sell what you raise — there are lots of barriers and road blocks. We’re able to help guide people through the process since we’ve been there ourselves.”
The convenience of multiple farmers who supply these products is also a tremendous help. It allows the consumers to keep coming back to get the food they need to feed themselves and their families. As more customers come in to shop, the demand for popular products such as chicken and beef rapidly increases. Pork, chicken and beef, for example, are supplied by about six different farmers to fulfill the needs of customers.
Items that sell out fast are “the things you wouldn’t expect,” Boggs said. Seasonal fruits are always high in demand. But sometimes an item’s popularity even surprises Boggs. Recently, The Farm Store sold Asian pears.
“There’s no way these are going to sell,” Boggs recalls thinking. “And they all sold out, really fast!
The craze for sourdough products is also still at its peak. Sourdough loaves, bagels, cookies and cinnamon rolls fly off the shelves.
Speaking of bread, the first vendor to join The Farm Store and still the most popular is Morgan Autrey. She is the founder of WildBirdBreadCo. Autrey began her bread journey because she had a goal and passion to be able to make bread for her family members and not have to purchase it at the store. She explained she created an Instagram page just for her bread and it took off.
Autrey said faith is also important to the community and many individuals come together and celebrate their faith with one another. “It brings Jesus to the community…” Autrey said. “And we are all just good people who want the community to thrive!”
Autrey, who calls the community day “Farm Store Friday,” explained that once her bread loaves were good enough to be sold, she posted them in a local Facebook group for moms. A mom who became a frequent customer recommended her to Boggs. Boggs then reached out to Autrey and told her she was interested in having her as the first vendor in The Farm Store. Autrey has sold her items there ever since.
Food, relationships, family, community, entrepreneurship, and life unfolds at the Farm Store in Rock Hill. Small but mighty, this incredible community conceived by Boggs has become something truly extraordinary.
Want to go? The Farm Store is located at 3784 India Hook Road, Rock Hill, SC 29732.
Queens University News Service stories are prepared by students in the James L. Knight School of Communication with supervision and editing from faculty and staff. The James L. Knight School of Communication at Queens University of Charlotte provides the news service in support of local community news.
