By Gary Ogle
gogle@wbcowqel.com
When is a new business owner not new to the business he owns? When that business owner takes over from his father after 31 years.
That’s the case with Ben Sharrock who has taken the reins from his father Tim at Liberty Farm Home and Garden in Galion, formally Liberty Mill.
“I think everyone in town has been a customer here,” Mayor Tom O’Leary said after Joe Kleinknecht of the Galion-Crestline Chamber of Commerce welcomed the younger Sharrock into the business community at a ribbon cutting ceremony Thursday morning. “It’s a reintroduction on a good brand and a new generation.”
The “new” generation is quite familiar with the business.
“Dad has had this place a little over 31 years now,” Ben Sharrock said. “Just passing it down from father to son. The milling business has been in our family for generations.”
The Sharrocks also have an operation in Shelby and Ben admits that even though he has been immersed in the business, it’s not quite the same as it was.
“Definitely look at things a little different when you’re the owner,” Sharrock said with a laugh. “But I have been managing it.”
Sharrock said they naturally want to grow the business, and it is definitely in the growing business. Liberty Farm Home and Garden handles pet and animal feed and supplies along with all kinds of garden products including plants, fertilizers and bedding supplies.
It is located at 222 S. Liberty St. in Galion and is open 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.
More on Liberty Farm Home and Garden can be found online at its web site at www.libertyfhg.com.