HAMILTON, Ohio – Gramco Feed Co. has been in business since 1919. Back then, the now-busy city road that fronts it was a country road meandering past farmland. Gramco is kind of like an old general store and holds a lot of history.

“The business was started in 1919 by Arthur Graham,” said Tim Gillespie, who runs the family-owned business with his brother, John. “Graham owned the (nearby) Oxford Milling Co. at the time. This facility became available, and he purchased it to market the flour that he produced in Oxford. He also had an electric hatchery.”

After Graham’s death, his wife continued to run the store until 1929, during the Depression, when Gillespie’s grandfather, Roscoe Bisplinghoff, bought it. The name was simplified to Gramco and the chicks were sold as Gramco chicks. Bisplinghoff added feed and various farm-related products.

“It was pretty rural. Our business at that time was about 98 percent agriculture,” Gillespie said. “We called on dairy farmers, poultry, turkey farmers, and a mixed bag of each. Farmers in those days did a little bit of everything.”

Gillespie’s father, John, known as Jack, took over the store in the fall of 1946 when he married Ann Bisplinghoff. 

“My father started in the fall of 1946 and raised our family (three children) out of this business. It was still pretty rural then. Urbanization did not happen until maybe the mid-1950s. Big poultry came in; people raised fewer turkeys and chickens because it became corporate. Corporations started mass producing food rather than the local farmers.”

Gramco evolved in the mid-to-late 1950s to homeowner-type products, Gillespie said. Backyard gardening was popular. Many people came from other parts of the country to work in Hamilton factories. Gramco still carried a tradition of home gardening and raising a few cows, hogs and chickens.

“That continued until the subdivisions started coming in and then people became interested in lawn making; we kind of went that direction, as well as pet food and supplies,” Gillespie said. “A lot of people had dogs and cats and they still do. It was all gradual, just as we lost the farms here, gradually.”

Gillespie worked in the store his whole life. He started full-time after graduating from high school in 1977. He went on to study business in night school. His brother, John, went back to school and then on to a career in research. Since John’s retirement, he has been back working at the store.

They are still heavy in lawn and garden supplies, pet food, and wildlife products – bird seed, and corn for deer. A few farmers still come in for straw and corn but “farmers are few and far between in Butler County; the land is getting plowed up with subdivisions,” Gillespie said.

The balance and weight scales, still in use, add to the old-timey feel. The county auditor was in to inspect them last week, Gillespie said. They are just as accurate as digital scales and a lot less expensive to maintain.

Gramco also stocks hummingbird feeders and bird feeders of all kinds, including locally handmade feeders and bird houses.

“I am looking for someone to build some feeders for me,” Gillespie said. “Over the years I have had retired people with time on their hands who did it. They like to create new things.”

When people finish their shopping, they often wander to the adjoining room which Gillespie calls the history and research room. It houses local history records of every kind as well as a collection of Doran radios, some of the earliest radios built in America. The city directories are there and a record of all the patents created in Hamilton. Local Historian Carl Ruther spends a lot of time there and is always ready to share his knowledge.

Much of Hamilton’s manufacturing grew out of its agriculture. Horse-drawn equipment, Fordson Tractors, and other Hamilton agricultural manufacturing came about because of local farming needs.

“We share this history with customers,” Gillespie said. “Rather than a library setting, we do it in a retail way. A lot of my customer base had relatives that worked in these areas and they’re anxious to learn, to know. There is a rebirth of interest. The baby boomers are moving into retirement and they are very fascinated with what happened during and after WW II, where their parents or grandparents lived.”

Debbie Hyde has been a customer at Gramco for 40 years. She likes that she has a house account there and can walk in, tell Gillespie what she picked up, and he sends her a bill. She likes that he advises her on bird feeding and always tells her when the local bird count is happening.

“My daughter Amy loves him because when she had toddlers, she would pack them into the store and get dog food and bird seed and Tim would pack all of her food up and put it in the car for her. Tim is always friendly and his brother Johnny is great.”

That is definitely part of Gramco’s success. Tim admits to being a “people” person.

“I like the people,” he said. “I have always enjoyed networking with people. I like that rather than being confined to a laboratory or shop.”