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Struggling to produce a profit

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By JODY BOWES

Hernando Today correspondent

Published: October 26, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - It seemed like a great idea.
Manager Omar Hamed has plenty of experience running a produce market. In the 1970s he owned and operated a produce establishment in Brooklyn, N.Y. He also formerly owned a BP gas station at the corner of Jefferson Street and Ponce de Leon Boulevard in Brooksville. He and his son Mahmoud decided to open their new business, Top Produce, this past July.
Located on State Road 50 east of Sam's Club and before the Suncoast Parkway, they figured the location was perfect. They stocked-up on fresh local produce, added a selection of Middle Eastern food, fresh pita bread, refrigerated drinks, boiled peanuts and retained a few novelties from the previous venue, a filling station and convenience store.
Hamed says at first they did a brisk business. Lacking funds for advertising, they hoped their giant "Farmer's Market" sign would draw in people. They had a good-sized parking lot with easy access from S.R. 50 and, according to Hamed, produce of a better quality and lower price than typically found at large discount stores.
After a couple of weeks, Hamed says business started to slow. In addition, their family was hit by an unusual succession of tragedies, including a death in the family and his wife having a quadruple bypass operation. At one point they had to close for a week. He feels that caused some customers to think they had gone out of business, and with a tough economy it's difficult to bounce back to their initial productivity. He says while they have a few very good, loyal customers, things got so slow that his son had to go to Mississippi to work for a relative in order to make ends meet.
Hamed believes one factor slowing new business is that "nobody knows we're here. You have to spend money to make money, but we have no money to spend right now.
He continues: "We are really struggling. We stock the fresh fruit and vegetables that our customers have asked for, our quality is great and prices low. It's also frustrating because prices change so often. Scallions used to sell 2 for $1 but now cost us 2 for $1. Customers don't understand the higher prices, and it's hard for a small business to make a profit."
Another Spring Hill produce market says they have also felt the pinch of a tough economy, but that diversification and longevity are working in their favor. Murphy's Market has been in business for 22 years. Owner Dan Murphy says business is down but not so drastically they can't recover.
They've noticed some customers buy a little less than usual, and they acknowledge that for some it's easier to "one-stop-shop" at the large discount grocery chains. Yet between their loyalty base and word-of-mouth bringing in new customers, they are surviving. He also attributes their success to a booming deli business. They offer made-to-order sandwiches and salads as well as fresh, top quality butcher meats. He says their customers prefer to have their meat cut and packaged fresh and adds, "Bigger stores are so much bigger that they can't offer the friendliness that smaller businesses can."
Murphy's hopes to "stay the course until the economy improves."
Back at Top Produce, Hamed continues to rise at 4 a.m. twice a week and travel to Plant City and Hillsborough to get his fresh produce, and to Orlando to buy fresh pita bread from a bakery. He says he enjoys getting to know his customers and puts service as his No. 1 priority.
"Top Produce has excellent service," he declares. "Before I start to deal with a customer, I put myself on their side of the counter. I want them to be able to tell their neighbors about us, and to recommend us to friends and family. Our three priorities are service, quality, and price."
Hamed says they are grateful to their landlord, Allen Roofing, for keeping their rent manageable during this difficult spell. He hopes they can "hang on until strawberry season in March" and says that if they can do that, they feel they will be OK. He says he hopes that thrifty customers will realize that "It pays to shop around. If people check us out they will see that we have good quality and low prices."
Top Produce is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

Biz at a glance:
Name - Top Produce
Address - 13390 Cortez Blvd., Brooksville
Telephone - 352-597-8522

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