Small Business Saturday Is November 30, 2019
Old Town Spice Shop is proud to be your local Fort Collins spice shop since 2010! In fact, we’re approaching our 9th birthday. The Godbey family first opened our doors on December 3, 2010. We are so grateful to the Fort Collins community for its continued support, and to everyone outside our community that shows their support through online purchases. It’s an honor to fulfill orders from locals and from people all over the country who enjoy fresh, high-quality herbs and spices. When you think big and shop small on Small Business Saturday, and every day, you’re helping keep local economies healthy and keep dreams alive. One thing that sets us apart from other spice shops is that we are an independently owned and operated Fort Collins spice shop. Our family opened Old Town Spice Shop because of our love for the community, for Colorado, and for fresh and tasty spices.
With Small Business Saturday just around the corner on Saturday, November 30, we’d like to share some insights from our journey building a small business in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Q: How are Old Town Spice Shop products tailored to the Colorado way of life?
We do our best to tailor what we make to how we cook in Colorado. A lot of locals like to cook from the land, so they appreciate spices that are great with vegetables. Many local chefs and home-cooks also enjoy spices that help highlight the agricultural background of the area, so we make sure we have great rubs for everything you would do with meat. Folks here also seem to like things spicy. So we make sure we can bring the heat when people want it!
Q: Have you always been interested in spices?
I have always loved spices, but when we started this business, we had a huge learning curve. I learned a lot about spices in the first year we opened. I still learn new things every day, and I love it!
Q: Are you a good cook?
I like to think I am. But like anyone, I have areas I am most comfortable in. The one area that I need the most help with is baking. Luckily, my wife is a great baker, so I don’t have to be!
Q: What is your favorite thing/dish to cook?
My go-to favorite meal to cook and eat is hot wings. However, I love to cook a new recipe, and then change the recipe the next time I make it to make it better. Even after 15 years of trying to master hot wings, I still change the recipe every once in a while.
Q: What is your favorite spice aroma?
Aroma is a funny thing. It stimulates the brain in a way that can immediately take you back in time. For me, cardamom is one of my favorites. It reminds me of taking trips to the Middle East, sitting in coffee houses drinking Turkish Coffee. I worked for a church for a number of years prior to opening the spice shop. I had good friends that lived there, and I would go visit them on mission trips.
Q: Do you have an all-time favorite spice?
No, there are too many fun spices in the world. I have my go-to spices for different things, but really, most of the time I like trying new things.
Q: What is your favorite aspect of owning Old Town Spice Shop?
Sharing fun new things. We get to work with customers every day who want to make their life better through flavor. We get to help them figure out what to use to make that happen.
Q: What is it like being a small business owner in Fort Collins?
Great! The community of small business owners downtown is amazing. Owning and managing a small business can be daunting at times. What is great is that there is always someone else who has gone through something similar and is willing to give you ideas about how to make it better.
Q: Where do you see OTSS in the next five years? Ten years?
Our store isn’t going anywhere. We are lucky enough to have great relationships with numerous businesses throughout our community. I hope that in five to ten years, we will be able to grow those relationships to continue to make Fort Collins better.
Q: What are your favorite customer interactions?
When I work at the store, I love seeing customers that have come in for years. I also love it when new customers come in and are blown away by all the options and are super excited about all the things they want to cook.
This is just a small peek into the heart and soul of your local spice shop, Old Town Spice Shop. With the holidays rapidly approaching, now is the most important time of the year to head to Downtown Fort Collins and support local businesses like us. Remember to #ShopSmall this holiday season and come say hi! We invite everyone to taste the difference that fresh spices, blends and seasonings, teas, sugars, extracts, and other products can make in your life.