“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” is exactly what you don’t want to hear when you’re taking a leap of faith, charting a new course, or making a life-changing decision.
But, as the story goes, that’s exactly what Ruth Bruick said as she and her husband Gene pulled up to the old Fort Smith location many, many years ago. I was lucky enough to know Gene, and I can practically see him smiling back at her, assuring her that, sure, he knew what he was doing. Probably.
Turns out, he did. It’s impossible to know exactly what he was thinking; no one thought to make notes when Gene told his stories, and he’s no longer around to tell them himself. But, since incorporating in the 1940s, the Farmers Co-op has grown to eighteen feed stores, a couple of warehouses, a mower shop, and service stations. And it all began with that car ride so long ago and two people, maybe one of them a little more confident than the other, taking a chance on a broken down old building.
The Fort Smith location as we know it today is located on 10th street, near the heart of downtown Fort Smith.