Dateline: August 23, 2001

Cornells break ground on new country store

Roger Estlack, Clarendon Enterprise

Bill and Deanna Cornell broke ground last Thursday on what will soon be a new retail store in Clarendon.

Cornell’s Country Store will be located at US 287 and Orpe Street and will employ four workers in addition to the young couple. The metal frame building will occupy a total of 6,000 square feet with 4,500 of that being set aside for retail space. It is scheduled to be completed in November.

The store will carry a full line of Purina feeds, hunting and outdoor goods, a full line of clothing, Justin boots, tack and pet supplies, lawn and garden supplies, and farm and ranch supplies, Bill Cornell said.

“We’re excited because we’ve already compared our prices, and we will be competitive with the stores in Amarillo,” he said.

Cornell started selling Purina feeds behind his father’s Shell service station 2½ years ago just to make a little extra money. Besides, he said, he was using enough horse feed himself to make it worthwhile to be a dealer. But he was not prepared for the reception he would receive.

“Business has been tremendous,” Cornell said. “I can’t keep enough feed in stock. It goes almost as fast as I can get it in.”

Cornell was already thinking of expanding in January when Purina approached him about opening one of their “Premier Stores” – a concept store that has proved to be popular in rural towns across the nation.

As part of the Purina Premier Program, the Cornells have been going to retail training schools, and Bill has been learning more about the variety of feeds so he can better advise his customers. To insure the success of the store, Purina conducts market research in a 35-mile radius and recommends retail stock to fit those potential customers. Cornell already receives customers from outside of Donley County with some coming from as far as Turkey and Quitaque.

The Purina program also helps design the store itself and secures vendors that will make the store competitive with those in the big city.

“They just do research on everything,” Deanna Cornell said, “even down to the lighting and what tile is best to put on the floor.”

The couple says Purina Premier stores are found around the country and some are in Central and East Texas, but Cornell’s Country Store will be the first of its kind in the Panhandle.