Historic Wethersfield Seed Store Closes
Updated 6:00 PM EST, Mon, Nov 2, 2009
Comstock Ferre in historic Wethersfield has closed after 189 years in business and is now for sale. The Main Street store where loyal customers came to buy seeds and other garden supplies become the country's oldest continuously operating seed company, according to the Hartford Courant.
But in August, owner Pierre Bennerup, who took over the business in 1991, said it was time to close. In just three years, profits dropped $600,000 from $850,000 annually to $250,000.
"The whole business collapsed," Bennerup told the Courant. "I love the place. It's a beautiful place, but I'm not made of money."
Bennerup doesn't blame Comstock Ferre's problems on the economy. Instead, he says a recent plan to build a residential and retail development on the site was misunderstood. Residents worried historic barns would be torn down, fought the proposal and in turn, Comstock Ferre suffered.
Bennerup told the newspaper that customers thought it was already closed or were upset about the barn sand refused to shop there. But Bennerup said the barns actually would have been dismantled and reassembled elsewhere.
First Published: Nov 2, 2009 1:47 PM EST
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