Welcome to the sixth episode of Sustaining Craft the Podcast, a series that features those making a living through a creative means. Sustaining Craft is a project of Hew&Weld Writing, story-based marketing crafted for local business. Listen below or keep scrolling to read the article about Logan Duvall and his work with Me and McGee!
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Curious visitors helped grow a roadside stand selling pecans into a local market with twelve vendors.
In 2011, Debbie and Larry McGee decided to harvest the nine pecan trees on their property and sell the pecans to passersby. Seven of the trees are over 70 years, resulting in some big trees and plenty of pecans. Their retirement project unexpectedly grew after they planted a garden, attracting even more visitors.
Larry passed away in 2016 after a long battle with cancer, and their daughter, Neva Collier, joined the family business to keep the business open, now called Me and McGee Market. She started implementing some new ideas, and the market continued to grow.
Photo by Elizabeth Silverstein
Collier’s son, Logan Duvall, soon started working with the market as well, moving from Russellville to the Little Rock area with his family to help. “She did a lot,” said Duvall of his mother. “The social media with local business is really important, and Mom really initiated that. Her photos built a lot of online excitement and got people out there.”
Collier started reaching out to local businesses, starting with Geri’s Jams and Jellies. Today, the market carries produce and products from businesses such as Fennel and Fire, Teaberry Kombucha Co., and the Farm at Barefoot Bend. “It’s a lot of local people that are really, really good at what they do,” said Duvall. “We’re able to bring it all together. Our big draw is definitely produce. People come out for tomatoes more than anything else, but it’s a way to showcase some of these other people that don’t have storefronts.”
While the market no longer sells produce from the McGee garden, the family has found creative ways to create other Me and McGee products. “In produce, inevitably, there’s a ton of waste,” Duvall explained. “So, my mom and grandma decided that they wanted to try to do pickles and salsa just because we go through so many tomatoes. It just took off.”
Photo by Elizabeth Silverstein
The market is open all year, except for January, which distinguishes it from a farmer’s market. Vendors also aren’t required to be on the premises — Me and McGee staff explains products and handles all transactions. As the market continues to grow, Duvall works to refine the focus of the market, which was a business tool he learned while working in real estate. “Really looking at what’s working and what’s not and making sure that we’re doubling down on what’s working,” Duvall explained. “The creativity and the hard work and the sacrifice was my family. I didn’t do any of that. But just making sure we’re on the right path and we’re treating everything like a real business–that’s been the change in the past year.”
Duvall also seeks to build a rapport with those who stop by the market and will jot down names and other tidbits. “I don’t like the word customers. You need to make people feel welcome and appreciated and just [remember] people’s names,” he said. “That’s been big. People appreciate that, the effort that you try. I fail regularly at it, but trying has really helped.”
It’s the relationship component, along with the local focus, that has really distinguished Me and McGee. “I don’t know why you would do this if you weren’t trying to build relationships,” Duvall shared. “We have more regular customers than one-stoppers. There’s people that drive from Conway every single Saturday to come out. We’re just a little bitty place beside a house.”
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Find Me and McGee at their website, on Facebook, and, of course, on Instagram. Visit them in person at 10409 Highway 70, North Little Rock, Arkansas.
There’s so much more in the podcast! We discuss how Logan learned some valuable lessons in business from his mentor, what caused him to move his family from Russellville to help his grandmother, mother, and sister at the market, the farmers that the market works with, the hidden costs of overhead, and the importance of local food and relationships.