D e s e r t E x p o s u r e
June
2009
For the Birds — and More
Wild Birds Unlimited offers wildlife supplies and gifts for nature lovers of all breeds. Plus: AT&T buys Alltel customers, Flowerings owner transplanted, two car dealers get bad news and more business developments.
"One of our customers told us that we changed her life. In a way it's just birdseed and stuff, but it's more than that, too," says Kristi Lane, co-owner with her husband, Wes, of the Wild Birds Unlimited nature shop in Las Cruces.
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Kristi and Wes Lane pose with their dog near some of the bird-lover
merchandise in their Wild Birds Unlimited store in Las Cruces.
(Photo by Donna Clayton) |
Wes Lane chimes in, adding, "It's about the customers. Our customers are the best. They come in and tell us the most amazing, amusing stories about what's going on in their backyards. We really get to know our customers."
Standing amid a plethora of bird feeders and bird houses, bags and bags of birdseed and colorful gift items, the Lanes talk about the business they opened on Lohman Avenue in August 2007.
"Well, we were looking for something low-stress and fun," says Kristi. "And we sure as heck found it!"
Wild Birds Unlimited is a nationwide chain with nearly 300 stores across North America. The Lanes bought their WBU license, laid in their customized stock, and today employ three staffers as well as themselves.
"It's a very successful operation and they give you a great formula, their years of experience and research. But everything is customized to what we want it to be — what kind of birds and wildlife are in our area, what we want to focus on," she adds. "We are focused on our desert location, our weather, our trees and native birds."
Most of their customers are local, they agree, coming from all over southwest New Mexico and western Texas. Some come from quite a bit farther afield — and the Las Cruces WBU has goodies that will be useful in their backyards back home, Kristi says. But Wes says it's the locals who show up week after week to buy more seed, drink coffee and chat with other backyard birders about their feathered visitors. A whiteboard in one section of the store allows customers to record their nature sightings, what kind of birds they've recently seen.
"It gets to be a social thing," Wes adds with a smile. "People love to talk about the birds that are coming to their yards, what they put out to attract them."
He says he's happy to stand behind the quality of all the WBU products his store sells, especially the lines of seeds and feeds. "It's all clean, fresh seed," he says. "We get a new shipment each week. I know it's the best stuff around."
Kristi walks around the huge pile of 20-pound bags stacked in a circle at the front of the store. Small sample trays give the customer a look at the components in each specially blended mix.
"I ask people, 'What do you have in your yard now and what do you want to see?'" she says. Too many doves? Get a seed blend without milo. Doves and those common sparrows will eat milo, causing them to flock to the feeder, but other birds cast out milo as waste. Cut out milo and your feeder will draw other, more interesting and colorful birds and cost you less to keep the feeders full, as well, with less seed going to waste.
A bag of hulled sunflower seeds might seem pricey, at first, but then Kristi points out that you're not paying for the hulls and the seed will go further. The sunflowers also will not germinate, eliminating mess.
There also are spiral wire feeders that look like holiday wreaths. Filled with peanuts still in the shell, the feeders provide a special treat and challenge to jays and entertainment to the backyard birder, who gets to watch the birds' antics as they pull the shelled nuts through the wire loops.
And, of course, hummingbird feeders abound at WBU.
"We have so many wonderful hummingbirds here! Such variety!" Kristi exclaims.
Wes Lane points out a new product, "Jim's Birdacious Bark Butter," developed by WBU's founder, Jim Carpenter. A blend of beef suet, peanut butter and corn, the stuff can be smeared right on the trunk or branch of a tree or slathered into specially drilled hanging feeders made from tree branches. The powerhouse food attracts chickadees, nuthatches, catbirds, cardinals, mockingbirds, wrens, woodpeckers, towhees, brown creepers, grosbeaks, robins and more.
Kristi pulls one after another of the store's wide selection of birdhouses off the wall, extolling the special features and virtues of each. She opens a side panel of one designed to draw and house northern flickers.
"There's sawdust in here because they like to excavate their area, so this give them a head start," she says. All the birdhouses have panels to open for easy cleaning.
The store also sells lots of backyard and nature-themed gift items, like rain gauges, thermometers and yard decorations. WBU offers all-natural odor-neutralizing products by Fresh Wave, and a line of natural pet food products — a lot of nature lovers also have domestic pets, Kristi points out.
The store also sells a wide array of birdbaths, many with solar-powered fountains built in. And a colorful selection of plush toys and other gifts for kids are designed to cultivate a love of nature.
"It's a wonderful hobby, and very life-enhancing," Kristi says of birdwatching. She reflects on the customer who credited the Lanes' store with changing her life.
"She'd lost her husband and was feeling depressed," Kristi recalls. "She came here and got some seed for her mother, who was living in assisted living. Then she started putting it out at her own home, and she started noticing the birds. It created something for her to look forward to, to see the birds come back and enjoy them.
"Hearing that story made me so proud of what we do and what our products can do for people."
Wild Birds Unlimited, 2001 E. Lohman Ave., Suite 130, Las Cruces, 523-5489.
Open 9 a.m-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Sundays.
Goodbye, Alltel, Hello, AT&T
If you're an Alltel customer in Grant County, get ready to be switched to AT&T. As first reported on the Desert Exposure Web site, in a multi-billion dollar deal expected to close by the fourth quarter of 2009, AT&T Wireless acquired 1.5 million former Alltel customers in 18 states, including New Mexico. The switchover will ultimately mean new rate plans and new phones for current Alltel customers, since AT&T uses an incompatible technology. On the upside, Grant County customers will gain access to AT&T's 3G data network and be able to use the popular Apple iPhone. The deal was a spin-off from Verizon's acquisition of Alltel, in which Verizon was required to jettison certain Alltel assets for competitive reasons. The transaction adds customers and enhances network coverage and is expected to deliver substantial long-term stockholder value. During the transition to AT&T, Alltel customers will remain on their existing rate plans. Verizon subscribers who were customers prior to the acquisition of Alltel can relax — you won't be affected.
Going, Going, Gone
Flowerings, the florist and gift shop on Yankie Street in Silver City, has closed. The shop is empty and a For Rent sign is posted. Vickie Sexton bought the business just over a year ago. Last this reporter heard from Sexton, she and her husband were moving to Albuquerque, where he hopes to get into radiology school. Sexton says she liquidated most of her inventory and donated her floral cooler to Gila Regional Medical Center. She had hopes to sell her hospital route but was tight-lipped due to negotiations still in process last month. Sexton reported that she retained the legal rights to the company name, "holding the door open to reopen the business under that name in a couple of years if things work out that way." 215 W. Yankie St.