Seasonal store opens in Moses Lake

MOSES LAKE — Sampling is manager Stephanie Meade's favorite part of working at Hickory Farms.

"Sampling to the customers," she explained with a grin. "They really like that, and that's where we sell most of our products."

The Moses Lake store opened Nov. 17, in response to a local demand.

"We do surveys in Wenatchee, Tri-Cities, Yakima and Walla Walla," Meade said. "We entered the Zip code when we do the start of our sales, and we'd been getting a lot of business for this Zip code, and Ephrata's and Othello's."

Business has been slow to start with, but those who do enter the store are excited to see the business in town, Meade said.

A resident of Moses Lake for 10 years, Meade started work at Hickory Farms in October. She applied for the manager's position listing on a Work First Web site. It's her first time with the company, but she has experience in retail, she said.

"It's not like doing a major chain store, so it's not as crazy," she said. "Long hours, though. But I've got great employees."

Even before she worked for the company, Meade would purchase Hickory Farms, sending gifts to family in Alaska each year.

Store offerings include gift sets and baskets, sausages, crackers, mustard, cheeses and cheeseballs. New items include cranberry mustard, bacon and green onion dip cheese spread and chocolate chip cream cheese cheeseballs.

"We have a lot of new stuff this year," Meade said.

The store ships to anywhere in the continental U.S. and is waiving the fee for APO and FPO boxes for military personnel this year, Meade said.

The seasonal store shuts down after the first of the year, but if the store is successful and reaches its sales goal, Meade said Hickory Farms would probably return to Moses Lake next holiday season.

That's her hope, she said, noting she likes having a Christmas job. Otherwise, she is a stay-at-home mom.

"A lot of people would shop out of town for it, in the malls and stuff," Meade said. "(Hickory Farms) felt there was a need. We're hoping to prove them right."