Valley Supply: Local farm store fills a need in Bridger Valley

Cliff Anderson grew up on a ranch in Uinta County and never imagined he would go into the retail business. 

However, a few years ago, he reopened a general-purpose farm and ranch store in Urie that is still standing strong.

Built from scratch 

Cliff bought the old building, an International Farmers Association (IFA) Co-Op built in 1976, right before COVID-19 hit in 2020. The old store had changed hands several times but always stayed within the farm store realm, selling hardware, feed, tires, etc.  

“I wasn’t thinking about getting into retail at the time and I had absolutely no experience, but my mom was recovering from cancer and I thought it would be something she could do to stay busy. She did have a lot of experience, as she ran a grocery store in Manila, Utah for 20 years,” he says.

Cliff notes when the pandemic struck and things slowed down, his mother convinced him to convert the building back into a retail store for the local community.

“We started to do this, and then she had her second bout of cancer and wasn’t able to help much. This left me to the wolves a little,” he admits. “However, we got through it. My mom got through it, and life is better now.” 

He adds, “We built it all from scratch. Everything in the store was something I picked and said, ʻThis is what I want.ʼ”

Filling a need 

Cliff admits when they first started reopening the store, they weren’t sure what kinds of products to stock for their customers. 

“As people started coming in, we’d ask them what they want and what they were looking for in a small country store to feel out the needs for this community,” he says.

“Now the business is just something we are trying to do to accommodate the people in our area,” he adds. 

“We have IFA back with us – we are not an IFA affiliate, but anything they sell we can get,” Cliff notes.

“We also work with TruValue, which is who we started with,” he continues. “Both of those outfits have been a Godsend and have really helped us.”

Today’s store also has three different tire vendors to supply the community with a variety of brands, types and sizes, and one end of the store is completely dedicated to tire repair and mechanic work.

The other side of the store includes aisles of tack and hardware, and the middle section houses pet and livestock feed. 

Although the store is fairly small and must compete with retail giants like Amazon, Valley Supply offers the community a more personal – and hopefully quicker – shopping experience than waiting for a package in the mail. 

“Our biggest competition today is Amazon and other online sources,” Cliff confesses. “I know many people order things online, but they can still get it faster if our little store has it in stock.” 

“Since the valley is so small, it’s very easy to just drive here and pick it up if it’s sitting here on the shelf,” he adds. “This is what we try for – to have the basic things people need on hand.”

A good crew

Though small like his store, Cliff notes he has a really good crew. 

“Heidi Guymon is my main manager and is absolutely phenomenal at keeping everything running smoothly,” says Cliff. “My mom also goes to the store a couple days a week and does all the bookwork and keeps everything up to snuff. She is enjoying it, and I am enjoying not being there quite so much. In fact, these days I’m hardly there at all.”

Cliff was born and raised on a cattle ranch near McKinnon and is the fifth generation. His boys are the sixth and his two grandsons are the seventh. In addition to running the store and helping on the ranch whenever he gets a chance, Cliff also stays busy running a few other businesses. 

“My boys have all worked for me at one point or another, though none of them work for me at this point in time,” Cliff says. “Hopefully this will change next year.” 

He adds, “And hopefully someday I won’t need to be doing all of these things so I can just be back on the ranch. That’s my ultimate goal.” 

For more information on Valley Supply, visit @ValleySupply on Facebook.

Heather Smith Thomas is a corresponding writer for the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.