CLUCK! - THE HIP URBAN FARM SUPPLY STORE THAT EVERYONE IN PROVIDENCE IS TALKING ABOUT

Cluck!, an urban farm store located in Providence, Rhode Island offers most everything a rooftop or backyard ‘farmer’ would ever need. Remember, there are no big farm stores near most major cities – and for those who don’t have trucks or cars, having a place like this blocks away, opens up a new market.

Just right up the street from my office is this neat, little converted gas station that I really wanted to check out – I mean, as someone who has raised poultry and gardened in a relatively suburban setting for practically my entire life, I was curious. Throw in the fact that I am a design geek as well, and it was probably surprising that I had never visited Cluck! before. I don’t know where all of this ‘urban’farming’ thing will end up, but I have nothing but support for anyone who tries to change how we get our food today, and if they can figure out how to do it in a well crafted way, even better.

Cluck below, for more!

Sure, one could find most of these items at a large farm supply store, but here in the North East, they are few and far between ( not near me, but near Providence, RI, one would need to drive some distance to the closest Tractor Supply or Agway.). We just pop over to the feed and grain store, but I have to admit – a watering trough in galvanized metal sure looks more tempting when displayed under a chick made of lightbulbs and up cycled circus metal! Look – I ‘get it’, and I wish these owners the very best – if local young up-and-coming ‘farmers’ want to buy organic feed or even a bee veil, stores like this can save visits to dozens of web sites, and from driving around New England for two days. After all, it’s just down the street.

Sure, this store is as much about design and experience, as it is about farming – but that’s OK. It is well edited, and the material is authentic. You may pay a couple of dollars more than at a big box farm store, but you will most likely end up with something that you can’t find there. Stores like this cross over many boundaries, offering fifty items, clever objects, well curated objects along with real farm supplies.

Bee supplies are helpful for me, just in case we need something fast on my way home.

This is clearly a store for designers ( dare I say hipsters? I was told that is no longer cool?) Still, authentic material and tools help, and the entire place is curated in a clever way – antiques mixed in with real farm goods.

I mean – just try to find a merchandise display like this at a your local Tractor Supply!

Of course, the signage is brilliant.

There is something for everyone, even for those just wanting items for decor, to read, or to start getting interested in gardening or back yard farming. These hip, city stores may humor ruralites, but they play an important role in both educating a new audience, and in attracting those who are curious about farming, but who have never been exposed to it.