http://www.headbutler.com/products/food-and-wine/could-5-catalogue-save-americas-oldest-seed-companyBarbara Melera is now reduced to an urgent request for help: “We need to sell 1 million catalogs to get rid of all of our debt, please help the oldest seed company in America!" That appeal has radiated from Landreth’s Facebook page to gardeners across the country; in a matter of days, 2,000 people have paid $5 for Landreth’s new catalogue, a thing of beauty printed in America on quality paper. At this rate, selling a million catalogues in less than a month seems impossibly ambitious.
In fact, Landreth only needs to book a million catalogue orders if it’s intent on paying off, as Melera writes, “all of our debt.” But her most urgent priority is Liz King’s $250,000, plus interest. And to pay that off, Landreth needs to sell “only” 250,000 catalogues by the end of the month --- or sell fewer catalogues but have massive seed orders roll in.
Hearing Melera’s story, you understand her wish for another year or two to settle Landreth’s debts. The company was profitable last year on sales of $500,000; it will be more profitable this year on sales of $600,000. And as more Americans decide they don’t want to grow vegetables from genetically modified seeds, sales of Landreth’s authentic heirloom products could grow dramatically.
Reality check: Time, for Landreth, ends on October 1.