Home grown produce a formula for success in Checotah

CHECOTAH, Okla. (AP) -- Carol Hornback said she does not have time to mess with a computer or to formulate fancy business plans.

"I do this because I love it," Hornback said with a sweeping gesture that seemed to embrace her entire stock of home-canned produce at Horn of Plenty.

Hornback, who began selling produce out of the back of a truck in Arkansas in 1985, said she always loved what she did and the success has followed.

With little more than a love for fresh produce and four teen-agers to raise on her own, Hornback moved to Checotah and opened her store in 1991.

"When I got here, I noticed that there were not any stores that sold anything like this with a little bow and tissue paper,"

Hornback said. "And I thought I would be good at this."

Still, it was hard work, she said.

Her four sons and daughter supported her effort but didn't share her love of gardening.

"They didn't mind driving to go pick up a load of watermelons or something," she recalled with a laugh. "But pulling weeds? Forget it. They called it child abuse, but I never minded."

Today, Hornback still grows about two-thirds of the produce she cans, and buys the rest from local growers.

When orders began picking up a couple of years ago, Hornback said she couldn't believe it.

"I started getting orders from all over the place and I didn't think I could keep up," she said. "But I got my friends to help me out, and now I'm doing better than I could have ever imagined in my wildest dreams."

Her son still thinks she should put some of her operations on a computer or get a Web site, but Hornback said she didn't have any use for the computer.

"I couldn't sit down a long time doing that," she said, wrinkling her nose. "I'd rather be canning."

Hornback said she expects this year's holiday sales to be better than ever.

She isn't selling the high-tech gadgets industry experts are touting as this year's hot Christmas items. She's selling knickknacks, home-canned fruits and vegetables, and jams and relishes made from produce grown locally and wrapped up in unique baskets.

"I started getting Christmas orders back in July," said Hornback. "People are calling in their credit card numbers and telling me where and when to ship."

Hornback said her hottest Christmas items are sleds and wooden wagons filled with a variety of home-canned vegetables, jellies and pickled items.

Last year, she shipped about 265 of the arrangements from her country store to destinations all over the country and overseas.

Hornback said holiday sales make up about 50 percent of her annual profits.

Many of the orders were taken over the phone from customers who had received a basket and wanted to send them to friends or business associates, Hornback said. Others browsed the store to select unique gifts.

Statues of poultry, angels, pigs and Santa scenes line the walls of the store to allow customers to mix and match their favorite foods with more tangible gifts. The most popular holiday items are cherry-pecan jelly, bread-and-butter jalapenos and cranberry-pineapple jelly.

"I've had so much business already this month, I'm staying open an hour later," Hornback said.

Customers are even bringing their own containers for custom orders, she said.

"They make really good gifts for people who have everything -- especially older men who are hard to buy for," said Murlene Johnson, Hornback's friend and customer, who browsed the shelves laden with corn relish, baby carrots and pickled peppers.

"Everyone loves to eat."

Hornback said she expects clay chimneas and circles of friends to be trendy centerpieces for a number of gift baskets this year.

Most of the arrangements cost between $20 and $25, but Hornback said she can make gifts to fit any price range.

Economists predict that consumers will be searching for the best bargains this year, which could cut into retailers' margins and push down overall profitability, according to published reports.

"I don't know about the economy," Hornback said. "I think my sales are up because word is getting around. More people are getting my baskets and then they want to send them to their friends."

She attributes the success of her home-canned goodies to the wholesome taste of fresh produce without chemicals or preservatives.