Ann Hoffert’s creations are, literally, for the birds.
The owner of Pipestem Creek has designed her home decorations so that they can easily be returned to nature. The handcrafted wreaths, swags, medallions and birdhouses are made up of natural ingredients so most may become edible creations for birds. Flowers, seeds, grains, grasses and berries are the main components of her SunFlorals and SunFeeders.
Flowers and most of the edibles used in the Pipestem Creek products grow on sixteen of the 5000 acres of the family farm that her husband manages. Very few items needed for the SunFlorals and SunFeeders are purchased from other sources. Ann notes, “Some of the items are grown out of necessity, such as the purple corn husks that we cannot buy from Kother suppliers. Raw materials are grown and sold to other businesses as well.”
Ann Hoffert started her business, Pipestem Creek, named after the nearby historic creek, thirteen years ago on the farm where she grew up. The business continues to grow. “I started with just two other employees, and only Diana VanRay is still with me these days. I’ve added staff as needed. There are eight full-time employees, and, during the busy season (August through December), we have up to 20 seasonal employees. Neighbors and friends from the community make up most of the staff and keep the business going,” says Ann.
“We never started out wanting to be a retail business, because we are too rural. The traffic for sales is just not there. With the help of today’s Internet, it would be easier to be a retailer, but I feel we would almost need to start over to try and sell totally retail now. Instead, we sell too many well-known large retailers all around the country,” Ann explains.
Pipestem Creek has evolved over time to the all-natural SunFeeders and SunFlorals, the mainstay of the business. The growth of the business began with the North Dakota Micro Business Marketing Alliance, headed by Virginia Nelson. The Alliance no longer exists, but it did help Ann learn about wholesale markets, locating gift markets and how to produce a line of products. After Ann left the Alliance and went out on her own, she became a very determined successful businessperson.
One of her major learning experiences involved the sunflowers used in the wreaths. Every year Pipestem Creek harvests 40,000 sunflowers by hand, some from their own sunflower acreage and some from contracted acreage. Hand harvesting takes much more time, but is the only way to inspect the sunflowers for consistent sizes and flawlessness. The sunflowers must be picked earlier in their growing cycle than most other products. There is still an excessive amount of moisture in them and the drying must be done very carefully so the sunflower does not mold or curl. Ann says, “Every creature you can think of is interested in the natural products, whether it is the sunflowers or any of the flowers. The first year we were in business we lost 80% of the sunflowers to mice. We didn’t check them often enough. We’ve learned a lot since that first year, and now we have less than 1% damage to our products. There have been so many lessons learned along the way, but each one has helped us to have a better product.”
“We also had to learn how to package the SunFlorals and SunFeeders so they do not get damaged in shipping,” Ann says. “While experimenting with handling the natural products, we created our own spray to help the seeds stay attached to the sunflowers. This helps to retain their natural beauty and usefulness, whether they are used as SunFlorals or SunFeeders.”
Ann has always loved to garden, but her creative talent comes naturally, as she’s never taken classes in designing or making her products. “Where there’s a will there’s a way,” seems to be her motto. She creates the designs for the feeders and florals, plans the production for each day and does all the marketing for the thriving business.
In November of 2002, Ann appeared on the Martha Stewart TV program for the second time, showing how to create her sunflower wreaths. “Appearing with Martha Stewart is a dream-come-true for me,” says Ann, who is pleased that Stewart has singled out her specialties. Earlier, the Martha Stewart magazine staff came out for a week to spend time studying Pipestem Creek’s operation and taking photographs of Ann and her staff for a feature article. Each time Pipestem Creek receives national attention, it generates new business and the phones begin to ring constantly. The added trade is a challenge that Ann enthusiastically welcomes each time it occurs.
A Lewis and Clark Commemorative Wreath is keeping the Pipestem crew busy during the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial. The National Council of the Bicentennial endorses it in their current catalog. “It took two years to research,” Ann explains. “The wreath is composed of plants cultivated or gathered in nature by the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara tribes in the area around Fort Mandan. Lewis and Clark spent the majority of their time around the fort when they were in North Dakota.”
The busy fall season for Pipestem Creek is also a busy time for Ann and her family. Autumn finds her daughters leaving for college or new careers. At one time, she felt the business was taking her away from her family too much. When she considered quitting, her daughters encouraged her to continue in the business she loves. Ann says, “I feel fortunate to have this profitable career to keep me occupied as my children leave home.”
Pipestem Creek, located a short distance from Carrington, is such a natural rural setting it’s hard to tell it is not the original home of all of the buildings. The picturesque little gift shop is a 10-sided wooden granary transplanted from an abandoned farm down the road. An old depot moved in from a nearby small town houses a variety of the production and storage on the farm. Two recycled granaries store drying products that readily go into the creation of the SunFlorals and SunFeeders. Recycling is an integral part of Ann Hoffert’s life.