Oct 11, 2024Goebbert’s Farm shares farm market and agritourism business success
Goebbert’s Farm in the northwest Chicago suburbs has been in the farm market business since 1948.
Goebbert’s Farm, based in South Barrington, Illinois, sells a large variety of fruit and vegetables, including blackberries, blueberries, grapes, rhubarb and strawberries.
George Goebbert started a roadside vegetable stand in Arlington Heights, Illinois, west of Chicago. In 1972, Jim Goebbert bought a 40-acre farm in nearby South Barrington, and moved the family there. Jim’s three children started selling pumpkins on the roadside in 1973.
It got so busy one Saturday, Jim had to close the Arlington Heights stand, to come home and help with the pumpkin sales. Their fall festival was born and has significantly grown since the inaugural one.
In 1979, Jim made Goebbert’s a destination farm by having the fiberglass pumpkin, “Happy Jack” made for the silo. Happy Jack measures 18 feet wide, 15 feet tall and is a landmark for many people. Today, Goebbert’s Farm – South Barrington is owned and run by Lee Goebbert, Diane Goebbert, Ben Goebbert and Kelly Conner, the third and fourth generation while also being managed by several long term employees.
At this point, they offer multi-seasons on the farm including spring, summer and fall. During the spring season, they are operating as a garden center where they grow nearly 95% of their annuals and nearly 75% of their perennials. During summer, they offer a market filled with fresh fruits, vegetables and a variety of complementary items. During the fall, they run the Fall Festival where they welcome thousands of guests to harvest family memories.
What is one of the biggest challenges you have faced?
For us, there’s a couple – managing growth and working with family. When we first started in this business, a busy day might include 100 cars or 1000 people on a Saturday. Over the years, that number has grown to 1000 cars or 10,000 people on a busy day. It’s challenging to plan accordingly for that growth and be able to gauge the needs each weekend based on many factors, especially weather. We love working together as a family, but as many of you know, it’s hard to find the right boundaries between the business and our personal family life. We wouldn’t change it, but it doesn’t mean there haven’t been challenges.
Name something you are most proud of developing or cultivating in your operation?
We are most proud of the team & sense of community we have built over the years. As a seasonal business, it’s a challenge to keep employees coming back year after year since we’re unable to offer full-time employment to all employees. Over the years, our management team has spent time improving the company culture which has significantly improved our employee retention. One of the things we love about our business is the amount of long term employees we welcome back on an annual basis. Most of our employees have been here for 5 years at minimum while a large chunk have been here for over 15-20 years.
What does NAFDMA mean to you?
NAFDMA is community and connection. Agritourism has been around for a long time, but it wasn’t always commonly understood. When you get to participate in an organization like NAFDMA, everyone gets you and what you do. We might do it a little differently based on our businesses, but it’s amazing to connect and share with the people who truly get it.
What is one issue you have faced where the NAFDMA organization or another NAFDMA member was able to help?
The NAFDMA organization is what helped us push beyond our comfort level. We had a couple years where we felt comfortable (and maybe a little stuck) in what we were doing, but after attending a conference with several key team members, we realized we had the capability and desire to do more! It always impresses us what other farms create and inspires us to think outside of the box for our business. After attending a conference many years ago, we were pushed to look towards the next 5-10 years so we could plan accordingly and grow our business to new levels.
What piece of advice would you give to yourself when you were just starting out?
You can’t do it alone. We have built a beautiful farm & garden center that has become a family tradition for so many in our community. We wouldn’t have been able to make it where we are today without our team or the many relationships we have built over the years including NAFDMA members. We can’t be an expert in every field, but we can certainly know or find one! It’s important to build a community and connect with those people who share the same goal as we do – harvesting family memories for years to come.
Learn More About Goebbert’s Farm here.
For more information about NAFDMA – International Agritourism, visit here.
