Provo IFA digs into a new location on University Avenue
Wade Stubbs, a warehouse worker at the IFA County Store, stacks bags of fertilizer in the new location on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
Potatoes sit in bins in one of the aisles of the new IFA County Store on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
An IFA Country Store employee holds one of the White Leghorn chicks in the new IFA County Store on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
White Leghorn and Golden Sex Link chicks feed in the back of the new IFA Country Store on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
From left, Cindy Taylor, office manager, Aaron Jaussi, store manager, and Craig Garner, assistant manager, pose for a portrait outside of the new IFA Country Store on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
The shelves of new IFA Country Store are stocked on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
A Irish Setter boot sits on display in the new IFA Country Store on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
The storefront of the new IFA Country Story advertises to passerby that the store is open and ready for business on Thursday, March 22, 2018, in Provo.
The Provo IFA Country Store recently moved from its location on 500 South to a bigger, brighter location at 898 S. University Ave., and the staff is feeling pretty satisfied about the result.
According to Aaron Jaussi, store manager, the old location had only seven designated parking spots and was almost 10,000 square feet. The new store has at least four times the parking and houses almost 26,000 square feet.
“Our sales floor is significantly bigger than the old location,” Jaussi said. “It’s just a nicer experience for everyone — employees and customers.”
The IFA team opened the new location March 12, “almost 95 years to the day the first Provo IFA opened up,” Jaussi said. The store, which opened in 1923, has been a staple in Provo for 95 years. IFA Country Stores, or Intermountain Farmers Association, started that year with four Utah locations. This is its third Provo location.
Though its original vision was as a cooperative with a focus on serving local cattle, dairy and egg farmers, IFA has changed over the years as Utah and surrounding areas moved away from large agriculture. Jaussi explained that while the store maintains its agriculture emphasis, it now serves the “suburban farmer or backyard gardener.”
“IFA changes with the times, and is always looking for opportunity grow in its chosen market,” Jaussi said, adding that in recent years, IFA as a whole earned some of its highest revenue to date.
Jaussi recently took over from the Provo location’s longtime manager, Craig Miner. Miner, 66, has been with IFA for almost 41 years and is retiring this month. He started as a purchasing agent in Salt Lake City and was managing the Provo store on 500 South within the year.
“To us back then, it was big,” Miner said with a laugh Thursday. He loves this new location, though, calling it “the best spot in Provo.”
Miner originally thought he’d move on to a different career, but he never left. And honestly, he’s thrilled with the way things went.
“It’s been good. IFA, they make you feel like family. I really don’t want to leave now, it’s really hard,” Miner said, adding that he’s worked with three generations of customers, helping them, then their children and now their grandchildren. Over the years he’s attended weddings and other events with many of these customers. One woman even told him the IFA store was her husband’s “non-alcoholic hang out,” where he always went to chat and shoot the breeze.
“IFA has a company full of people like Craig who have been here for 40 years. We all stay because they are so people-oriented from the top down. You genuinely feel the CEO cares about your well-being,” Jaussi said. “You just don’t get that at other places. It’s such a good family-friendly place to be, you don’t want to go anywhere else.”
Jaussi was busy reviewing job applications and interviewing applicants Thursday, because with the new store, they need at least double the staff. He expects during the summer months to employ triple the staff they currently have.
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