Brownlee's History

The Evolution of Brownlee’s

            In 1948, M.D. Brownlee, Sr. and M.D. Brownlee, Jr. started a coal yard, or retail coal outlet and delivery service.  The Brownlee's sold coal until it became obsolete in the 1960s and then built a gas station and named it Brownlee & Sons Gas.  The Brownlee's sold gas until gas allotments became too expensive to rent and make a profit.

            In 1974, with the gas station rented to a business with a gas allotment, the Brownlee's once again ventured into a new business, fertilizer.  Bulk, bag, liquid, and spreading fertilizer became the new business of Brownlee’s.  At this point, Brownlee’s consisted of a few warehouses, some spreader trucks, a liquid sprayer truck, and an office.

            In the late 1970s, Brownlee’s began to sell large animal and pet feeds, the brand was not Purina, but it was a start in the feed business.  In 1983, Buddy Brownlee joined the business and built the first store front of the feed and fertilizer business and named it Brownlee’s Feed and Fertilizer.  The retail space was only 800 square feet.  Shortly after the store was completed, Brownlee’s became a Purina dealer and has been since.

            In the late 1990s, Brownlee’s began to outgrow the small retail store and warehouse.  As Brownlee’s realized it was outgrowing its space, Purina realized the need for their feed to grow and offered assistance. The fourth generation of Brownlee's is running the newly expanded business.

Brownlee’s Products: Old and New

            Brownlee’s General Store offers a wide range of products to its customers.  Since the expansion, the product base has grown to include many products outside of animal feed and garden products.

Purina Feeds: Brownlee’s offers a wide range of animal feeds ranging from exotic feed such as ostrich feed, to large animal feed for horses and cows, small animal feed for chickens, rabbits, reptiles and fish, and pet feeds for puppies, dogs and cats.

Animal Healthcare: Wormers, shots, antiseptic, vitamin supplements, antibiotics, bandages, brushes, combs, and clippers.

Animal Accessories: Chicken waters and feeders, dog feeders, bowls, cages, kennels, doghouses, and dog beds.

Fertilizer:  Brownlee’s offers a wide range of bagged fertilizer for home and commercial use.  Bulk lime and fertilizer are available for pick or spreader service.

Seed: Garden seed are available year round in the correct planting seasons.  In the spring, garden seeds and plants such as squash, tomato, corn and exotics are popular.  In the fall and winter, greens are the hot seller, plants and seeds are available.  In addition to garden seed, grass seed is popular, as well as deer attractant seed.

Garden Supplies: Garden tools, gloves, garden statues and decorations.

Chemicals: Garden pesticides, rat poison, weed killer, and fungicide.

Clothing: Carhartt brand work clothes, including pants, shirts, socks, thermal underwear, suspenders, belts, and hats.  Georgia work boots, including steel-toed, insulated, and comfort core.  Dickey’s work pants and coveralls.

Toys: Brownlee’s offers a wide selection of Breyer collectible horses, and Ertl trucks and John Deere tractors.

Gifts:  Gift selections include Lang candles, Livingstone dog replications, Montana Silversmith’s jewelry, wall and home décor and Coke and John Deere trademarked items.

Brownlee's Customers

Brownlee's General Store is located at 219 Hurricane Shoals Road in Lawrenceville, Georgia. When we started selling fertilizer Gwinnett County was considered a rural part of Georgia. Over the years Gwinnett county has changed from rural to suburban and is now considered part of the Atlanta metro area.

Customers of Yesterday - Before 1960
Prior to 1960, our fertilizer customers consisted of farmers working farms of different sizes ranging from 35acres to 300 acres. Most of these farms were small grain farms and produced crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, oats or cotton. Gwinnett County was still considered a rural area.

The 1960’s
In the 1960’s the landscape began to change and so did the customer. The large farms began to break up into smaller farms and many of the crop farmers began raising cattle. The land that once grew cotton and grains was now grazing land or produced hay for cattle. Our customers were still farmers, only now they raised livestock and crops to feed the animals. The change from grain to cows was only the beginning there were many changes to come in our fertilizer business.

The 1970’s and 80’s
The 70’s brought more change to the Gwinnett County area. Some cattle farms still existed, but others were now smaller still. Hobby farms were popular here because of our close proximity to Atlanta. The small farms still produced cattle and hay; but, now horses began to grow in popularity. In addition to hobby farms, Atlanta and Gwinnett County were growing; commercial work was on the rise. Spreading fertilizer was no longer for fields of crops or pastures, road shoulders and construction sites were taking up more and more of my time.
In the 1980’s this trend continued. The hobby farms were slowly weeded out and Gwinnett County was more and more suburban. The commercial jobs grew and now some homeowners and weekend gardeners were beginning to buy bagged fertilizer. Our customers were now constructions companies, the county and homeowners; there were very few farmers left. The makeup of the area had changed drastically and so had our customers since we first began selling fertilizer.

The 1990’s 
The 1990’s continued in much the same way as the 1980’s the commercial work continued to grow while the few farms that were left rapidly disappeared. Homeowners were more and more our customers and now horse stables and barns became our customers. Many of the families moving into the area had pets and a pleasure horse or two. Our customers now consisted of homeowners, construction companies, the county and horse owner and barns. 

Today
Today our customers are much like those of the 1990’s. Homeowners fertilizing their lawns or growing a garden are our customers. Horse barns fertilizing their pastures are our customers. Constructions companies fertilize sites and roadsides with our fertilizer and landscapers are our customers as well. Our customers of today are comprised of many different people and they all have a different need for fertilizer. 


Tomorrow
As our county grows, construction will slow and the fertilizer customers of tomorrow will be primarily homeowners and landscapers. As the customers continue to change, so will their needs and it is our job to meet these needs. To meet the changing needs of our customers, Royster Clark should consider a few ideas. Many of the landscapers and homeowners request specialty fertilizer such as weed and feeds, pre-emergent and post emergent fertilizers. Also, changes in the packaging should be considered to make Royster Clark fertilizers more retail friendly. For instance, directions for use, coverage and other information should be printed on the bag to inform customers that do not have a farming background about fertilizer and how to use it.