By Richard Marosi
Business Writer
FOR FIFTY YEARS, chickens have laid the eggs of business
success of Schuster's Poultry Farm in Lakewood. In all that time, however, not
a one has laid a golden egg.
Not to worry, however, for the owner, Eddie Schuster, himself
hatched an idea that's paying off richly but has nothing
to do with laying eggs.
On this, the 50th anniversary of Schuster's Poultry Farm,
the families biggest moneymaker is not the eggs that they
have produced and distributed for decades, but an office
supply business that Eddie started on the side 11 years
ago and has since expanded into a multi-million-dollar enterprise.
"Out of good things come more good
things," Schuster said.
Eddie's father, 88-year-old Norbert, got the egg
rolling in 1946, when he bought a chicken farm on Brook Road. With Eddie's help
(He was only six at the time, but often drove around the farm while his father
fed the chickens off of the back of the truck.), Norbert established the farm
as a solid, growing business, eventually expanding into another, larger site on
Brook Road where the present business is located.
But over the years,
the egg business in Lakewood changed. New technologies led to larger farms, and
residential development began to encroach on the long time egg-farming area. As
for the latter, it was obvious from the start that the new residents would not
take kindly to the old - the chickens, who, it was claimed, smelled and were
fly-infested.
"A chicken never complains," Schuster said, "Chickens never
mind living near people, but people don't always like living
near chickens."
So when larger, more efficient egg farms started up in parts
of the state and nation with lower land and labor costs,
many of the egg farmers in the Lakewood area sold out or
went under. The Schuster's, however, stuck around.
They first curtailed, then stopped producing eggs, but
figured that the larger egg-producers would still need someone to distribute
theirs. So they became middlemen, buying eggs from farms in southern New
Jersey, Ohio and Pennsylvania, and distributing them - around 50 million eggs
last year - to supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants and hospitals
throughout Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Then, in 1985, about 20 years after they had stopped egg
production, Eddie Schuster hit on a new idea. For years,
a large portion of his chicken coops - a total of 13,000
square feet of space - had been underutilized..
He made money leasing some of the space out, but Schuster
knew there had to be a better use for it. When the company
upgraded to a new computer system, he noticed how much new
furniture, equipment and supplies were needed for a computerized
office, and an idea was born: The chicken coops could just
as easily be used as warehouses for office supplies.
"If we need all of this furniture and equipment, there must
be other businesses that need the same kind of stuff," he
remembers thinking.
So the Schusters, who had already demonstrated their ability
to adapt, adapted again. Out went the old egg-processing equipment, and into
the chicken coops (which were converted into office and warehouse space) came
the office furniture and equipment. New business cards were ordered, and the
delivery trucks got new signs. Sharing the bill now with the egg business would
be E.J. Schuster's Discount Office Supplies.
That amused some customers."Can I have a dozen eggs with
my desk, please?" many joked. But the office supply business
has turned out to be no laughing matter.
Regular clients
number in the hundreds, and revenue has grown every year, more than doubling in
the past five.
The business marriage off eggs with office supplies may
seem an odd pairing to some people, but not to Eddie Schuster. As it turns out,
both businesses are essentially the same when it comes to pleasing the
customer. Good service is the key, he believes, and decades spent perfecting it
in the egg business made it easy to turn the office supply business into an
even bigger success
"With eggs, if a restaurant is out of eggs on
Sunday, he doesn't want to wait until Monday or Tuesday for a delivery. We are
right there with the product when they need it'" he said. "With the furniture
business, it's also important."
But does Eddie Schuster ever get confused,
mixing up an order for eggs with one for an oak desk, for example? He says that
hasn't been a problem, but he does suggest on occasion that customers check out
their merchandise upon delivery.
"I tell them to open the drawer to see if
there are any chickens inside."
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