The Dexter Leader
A Heritage Newspaper
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A source of local pride
Dexter Mill keeps on growing with an eye on successful past
By Terry Jacoby, Heritage Newspapers
PUBLISHED: February 7, 2008
An advertisement that appeared in the Dexter newspaper in June 1941 stated this about the Dexter Cooperative Company: "We haven't been here a hundred years, but we can serve you in more than a hundred ways."
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A lot has changed since 1941. The Dexter Cooperative Company ended a 60-year run in 1980 and the Dexter Mill took over the building. Even though the name has changed and many of the items on the shelves are different, that same ad could still run today. Just like the Dexter Cooperative Company, the Dexter Mill "can serve you in more than a hundred ways."
The Dexter Mill opened for business in December 1979 as a full-service supply store.
"Some of the things we sell today were sold by the original Co-op," said General Manager Keri Romine. "We still sell seed potatoes, oats, fertilizers, gates and fencing."
And the same things that made the Co-op so successful all those years ago remain the blueprint for success with the Dexter Mill.
"We are still committed to great customer service and maintaining a hometown feel," Romine said. "Dexter Mill has the feel of a general store of the past."Dexter Mill is a feed store, but they offer customers a lot more than that - hundreds more, in fact.
"We sell hand carved canes, local honey, bird seed we make here in the feed mill, horse treats, dog toys, garden seeds and supplies," Romine said. "Customers enjoy checking out our Carhartt clothing and boots and our made in Michigan pet beds and made in USA pet toys.
"We sell ice melter salt, by the pallet or the bag, calcium chloride and pet friendly ice melter. In comparison to the larger stores moving into the area we offer unique options as far as seeds and quality plants in the spring, organic as well as conventional fertilizers."
Romine says product knowledge and the staff's "expert" advise helps make Dexter Mill a unique place.
"We offer advice to our customers on our products," she said. "Same goes with our animal feeds, and the fact that we are able to mix custom batches for our customers, from our recipe or theirs. Dogs are welcome to visit our store. We even get a few cats who visit us.
"Our staff can offer advice on many subjects from gardening to what to feed your 4-H fair project so they look great come show time."
Dan Vassen is the feed manager at the locally owned Dexter Mill. Eight other employees work at the store, which has a storied past in Dexter.
The Dexter Co-op Co. was born in the old Dexter Opera House in November 1919, when approximately 50 area farmers banded to eliminate the "middle men" whom they charged with demanding exorbitant rates for farm necessities and underpaying them for livestock and produce.
"They were at the mercy of drovers who would go down the road and buy their livestock," said Robert Gilbert in a March 1980 newspaper article. Gilbert was a director for the organization during the 1950s. "They also had to buy what was called 'thresher coal,' which was coal to run their steam equipment, along with regular heating coal," Gilbert said. "The merchants were making a lot off farmers."
At that first meeting, each farmer put up $50 in cash and signed a note for $50, after which on a motion by Horace Whitney, the organization was tagged the Dexter Agricultural Association, with Charles Calhoun named to serve as its first manager.
The Co-op caught on almost immediately, and by Jan. 11, 1920 - just two months after its founding - membership soared to 94, who contributed $20,000 to the treasury. An old house and property were purchased from Frank Smith, with a freight house and grain elevator leased from the New York Central Railroad. Both railroad buildings were destroyed by fire in 1949, to be replaced by fireproof structures the following year.
Following the Depression, the increased economy of World War II witnessed an agricultural boom. The new mill, purchased in 1930 at a cost of $2,400, operated almost continuously, grinding thousands of tons of grain to furnish bread to the troops abroad. Backed by more than 300 stockholders, the company grossed $160,000 per year throughout the war.
The co-op sold items such as seed potatoes, oats, barley seed, fertilizers, lime, gates and fencing supplies.
The boom was not to be repeated. As Dexter's economy shifted from agricultural into other areas, the need for a farmers' co-op declined during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1969, Ray McCalla bought the Central St. business and changed its name to the Washtenaw Farm & Garden Center. But the organization continued until March 1980 when it officially disbanded.
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