Wednesday, October 26, 2011

NEW CROP PECANS ARE HERE!

New Crop Pecans Have Arrived!!!

We now have new crop Pawnee pecans available in the shell, cracked and shelled. Straight from our orchards in Charlie, TX, these pecans are truly some of the BEST pecans in Texas!!!

We have the in the shell pecans available in a 5-pound bag for $23.75. We also have cracked pecans available in a 5-pound bag for $25.75.

If you would prefer to have shelled pecans we have them packaged in several ways:
12 oz bag - $7.95
1 pound bag - $9.95
3 pound bag - $28.95
4 pound bag - $37.95

We will have the Cheyenne pecans very soon! The Wichita and Choctaw pecans will be available closer to Thanksgiving.

Stop in for FRESH, LOCAL pecans!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Ribbon Cutting with the Chambers!

A big thank you to the Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, the Gold Coats, and the Clay County Chamber of Commerce for helping us celebrate 30 years of being in business.

Today we had the Wichita Falls group out at 10am and what a great way to start off the day! The weather was nice, the fudge was delicious, and the pecan pie and coffee were a huge hit! Thanks to Molly and Jake for attending and a big thank you to my staff for all the help in getting ready for this event...especially Kathy and Helen who worked HARD for two days making lots and LOTS of fudge!!!

This afternoon we hosted the Clay County group at 4:30pm and that was a nice way to end the day...getting back to our roots. The Pecan Shed and the Montz family have been a part of Clay County for decades! We are proud to be a part of this chamber and support such a great organization.

I want to especially thank Betty Ellsworth for helping me to set up this event! Betty answered the millions of questions I had and helped me to be prepared down to the last detail! Plus she came with a big bow and giant scissors!!!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

A Little History...30 Years in the Making!

Thirty years ago, on November 2, 1981, Tim and Molly Montz started their family business in a small wood framed shed on Hwy 79 in Byers, TX. Due to their buildings general appearance (and Tim’s lack of imagination), they decided to name their business “The Pecan Shed”. Little did Tim and Molly know how their store would grow and change over the years. Now the Pecan Shed is much more than just pecans. It has a wide selection of Texas gifts, home décor, and collegiate items. They also make their very own delicious homemade fudge. However, they still stick to the roots of the family business…locally grown, top-quality pecans.
The Pecan Shed was originally only open for business November through March selling in the shell and cracked pecans grown in leased orchards. Then in the fall of 1985, Tim and his long time friend, Bobby Elledge, along with Phillip Helm, built a new metal building to support the growing pecan business. This new Pecan Shed had a retail area, warehouse, office, and even indoor plumbing (no more running across the street to Reed’s gas station). As business grew, Tim and Molly decided to open another store location in Wichita Falls on Call Field Road. This location, called the Garden Patch, was open year round. In the fall and winter, the Montz family and staff sold pecans and in the spring and summer they sold produce grown by Tim or other local farmers from the Red River Farm Trail.
Business continued to grow. Thus, in 1994, the Montz family closed down the Garden Patch and built the Pecan Shed at its current location, 1401 Midwestern Pkwy. Even this building has seen change and growth over the past 17 years. Now, the Pecan Shed is an almost 10,000 square foot building which houses a large retail area, walk-in freezer, storage and packaging rooms, offices and a very busy fudge kitchen.
The Pecan Shed is open year round selling local pecans grown in the Montz Orchards. Tim and his family began planting trees in 1987 and their orchards have grown to include 800 acres and over 25,000 trees. Looking back 30 years ago, Tim can see how much his pecan business has grown. While buildings and locations have changed over the years, the best improvement has been in the pecans. Varieties have changed from the older pecans such as Burkett, Stuart, Mahan, and Success to the “improved papershell” pecans which include Pawnee, Cheyenne, Wichita and Choctaw. These new and improved papershell pecans fill out with more pecan meat, they are less susceptible to bugs and disease, and they are able to weather droughts better (although this past drought was hard on everything).
Tim and Molly have both tried to retire over the past few years. While Tim does more hunting and fishing, he still has a close eye on the family business. As proof that it is hard for him to let go, he kept the original “shed” building that the Pecan Shed started in and has turned it into a hunting cabin located in one of his pecan orchards. Tim can be found out in the orchards throughout the year and Molly will be at the retail store during the busy times.
Their children, Jake and Jill, are now managing the family business. Jake runs things out at the orchards and Jill handles the retail store. Some employees have been around for many years, but one has been there since the beginning. Kathy McGhee has helped out at the Pecan Shed since it opened, but officially got a paycheck starting in 1984. She is now not only Jill’s “right hand lady”, but she is also the one in charge of making the Pecan Shed’s delicious homemade fudge.
The last 30 years have been filled with lots of blood, sweat, and tears for the Montz family as well as a great deal of laughter and love. “Family Owned and Grown” is not just a saying for this business…it is what this business and the family that owns it represents. Tim and Molly taught Jake and Jill a simple formula for success…great pecans and outstanding customer service gave the Pecan Shed its roots and will continue to help it grow for years to come.

Monday, October 17, 2011

New Hires!

My "holiday help" is starting to arrive today and throughout the rest of this week. We always hire several temporary employees to help us get through the busy holiday and pecan season. I advertise for these positions through word of mouth, the MSU part time job fair, and by the grace of God.

This year I have several great staffers coming back for our "holiday rush"...Tara, Becky M, Chase, and of course my mom (who has been trying to go part time for the past 6 years...since Presley was born). I have lots of new members that I hope will love working here! They include Alisha, Amy, Becky H, Caitlin, and Helen. (Helen was truly a gift from God. I could not find ANYONE to make our fudge for us and one day I just prayed and let go and let God...and Helen called. AMEN!)

Of course my year round staff is awesome too! Some of these girls will be completing their last pecan season with me (since they will be graduating from MSU) which is sad but I love them all...Kathy (my second mom and the one who REALLY knows what is going on around here), Joanna, Tiffany, Desiree, Kayla, and Chasa!

I hope you will all come in to see my staff and I KNOW my staff will make you feel welcomed and be able to help you in any way they can. If they don't...then you let me know!!! :) All jokes aside...email me at pecanshed@aol.com if you ever have a comment, compliment, or complaint!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

30 Year Old Shed Shirt



Thirty years ago, when Mom and Dad opened the Pecan Shed, they did not have a lot of extra money for advertising. Mostly they relied on word of mouth and free media coverage. Mom did try to create a "staff" shirt though...of course back then the staff at the store was her (and when Kathy stopped by for a visit she helped out too).

The shirt I am wearing is 30 years old...yep 30! Mom had it done at a place in the mall. All I know to say is these fuzzy iron-on letters have really stood the test of time! I am not sure what they used to stick them on back then, but I have a feeling it may have been banned at this point...nothing lasts that long anymore!

There have been many times in my life that I have criticized my mom for hanging on to stuff. One such time was when I cleaned out her closet at home...it took me two days and over 13 XLARGE heavy duty black trash bags!

However, I am glad that Mom has held on to a few things...this shirt is one of them. It is a part of history...my history...Dotty's history. Some day I can pass this yellow t-shirt down to either Dotty or Presley (or both...they don't share well now, but hopefully in 10 years they will).

While this shirt doesn't have the ability to tell me stories from 30 years ago, it has been fun to hear those stories from my parents and others. I always took pride in the Pecan Shed and in being a "Montz", but after hearing what my parents sacrificed in order to make our family business not only survive but succeed... I am even more proud of both of them.

Let's just hope Jake and I don't screw this up! :)

Monday, October 10, 2011

Times Record News Story

Today in our local newspaper, Times Record News, Judith McGinnis wrote an article about the Montz Orchards and the Pecan Shed. She interviewed Jake and took some nice pictures. There is a lot of good information in there (as much as I hate to admit it...my older brother knows what he is talking about).

If you have a moment read it over...

http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2011/oct/10/drought-taking-a-toll/

Friday, October 7, 2011

New Crop Pecans Coming...SOON!


Dad, Jake, and the guys out in Charlie have just begun to run shakers and harvesters. Soon our cleaning plant will be humming with activity getting all the pecans ready for our retail store. We should have new crop pecans available at the Pecan Shed sometime around the end of this month.

As you may have heard...we had a drought this year. Yep...no rain...100 days of 100+ degree heat...all that did not do much good for our pecan trees.

BUT...yes friends there is a but!!! Thank the heavens for a "but"!

We do have pecans this year!!! Just not many of them! So what does this mean for you???

Well...the good news is you can still have pecan pie, pecan fudge, pecan ice cream, and all those other pecan goodies. The bad news is pecans are going to be more expensive this year...quite a bit more I am afraid.

The U.S., as a whole, is expected to be 30 to 50 million...yes I said MILLION...pounds short of demand. And if I remember correctly from Dr. Patterson's Econ101 class...when demand exceeds supply that causes the price to go up.

I have not heard what the exact pricing for pecans will be yet...but that information should be coming out soon. We will be offering our in the shell and cracked pecans in 5 pound bags again this year (100 pounds is the minimum for wholesale). We will have shelled pecans available in either the 1 pound bag or the 4 pound bag as always, but we have added two new sizes this year. We now have a 12 ounce bag and a 3 pound bag of shelled pecans available. We do still wholesale shelled pecans in 30 pound bulk cases.

If you need pecans and cannot wait until new crop comes off, we do still have some of last years pecans available that have been frozen (thus they have about one year of quality left in them). We have shelled pecans available from the 2010 crop in the Wichita and Choctaw varieties as well as pieces.

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Dating an Aggie


I have many "Aggies" in my family. My Papa, Uncle Donny, Aunt Patty, and several cousins have all gone to A&M (and that is just the immediate family). Jake graduated from Tarleton State University (which is a part of the A&M system) and I went there my freshmen year (I graduated from MSU).

However, I have never noticed how hard it is to find Texas A&M "stuff" in Wichita Falls until I started dating an A&M alum (aka...fanatic). Robert not only bleeds Aggie Maroon (not to be confused with the other schools who have maroon as a color), but he also lives and dies with the football team (which is KILLING him lately...and not making my Saturday nights much fun either). He also has a lot of A&M merchandise. You name it...that boy has it.

Unfortunately, when we made plans to attend an A&M game earlier this year I was shocked to discover how hard it is to find A&M stuff in this area! I couldn't even find a tshirt (in my size...apparently most Aggies are thin...all the shirts left in Wichita Falls were 3XL)!

The good news is the Pecan Shed carries A LOT of A&M "stuff". We have totes, bags, coolers, jewelry bags, coasters, car coasters, golf balls, dominoes, stuffed bears, sock monkeys, magnets, flags, picture frames, shot glasses, travel mugs, coffee mugs, knick knacks, and even garden gnomes! Just to name a few things!!!

And due to the shortage of "A&M availability" I have plans to expand our A&M line. Keep watching for new items to come in!

With Christmas just around the corner, make sure you stop by the Pecan Shed to get all the Aggies on your list the perfect gift! Gig 'Em (while you can)!