Location: Conway, Ark.
Owner: Glenn Shadwick
History: While coaching AAU basket all, Glenn Shadwick and his teams would meet in Conway, Ark., which was a central location for the players of his traveling team.
“I was a landscaper all my life and my friend owns a vegetable store in Pine Bluff,” Glenn recalled. “He said, ‘Hey, why don’t you sell vegetables up there in Conway?’ I said I wasn’t going to do that, but he said in the summertime, it’s not a good time to plant shrubs.”
It took some convincing but, Glenn finally agreed to bring load of produce to Conway.
“They very first weekend, I pulled over on the side of the road, didn’t have permission to even be there, pulled down my tailgate and I couldn’t believe how many people came to buy,” Glenn said.
After the first year decided it selling produce was a great opportunity, but his friend didn’t supply the produce. Glenn then began seeking products from other producers and opened a roadside stand. After about four years, Glenn, gave up landscaping for the produce business.
Two years ago, the lot where Glenn set up was sold. He found a second location a short distance away, but the owner wasn’t interested in renting, only selling. Glenn bought the lot constructed and built a 4,000 square foot building. “I had no intention of building a building, but I was tired of being hot,” Glenn said.
Products: Ninety percent of the items in Green Thumb Produce are locally sourced.
“We even have sorbet made by a retired schoolteacher who lives two blocks from here,” Glenn explained. “Our pork farmer is about 15 minutes from here, and beef guy is about 3. Our blueberries and blackberries are all from right here in Conway or within 10 to 15 minutes. We sell Esau Sweet corn from Dumas and this year we sold 89,000 ears. We move all around the state to get what we have.”
While moving into a climate-controlled facility was a cooling move for Glenn, there are other benefits.
“When it’s too hot, things like fresh okra shrivel up,” Glenn said. “Fresh, local green beans would dry out. We used to end the first weekend in September, but now we can offer Arkansas Black apples, turnips, mustard greens, collared greens. Arkansas pecans, Arkansas figs, things you could only get in the winter time, now we can carry them.”
Future Plans: “I want to open another location in Northwest Arkansas and one in Hot Springs,” Glenn shared. “We are just going to see, but I would like to do that for a few years, then it will be called retirement.”
