An im-peck-able plan

New owners to revive Havegard retail store

By Paige Grzenia

Contributing Writer

ALGOMA – Saturday, Nov. 25 is a big day for the new owners of Havegard Bird Seed LLC, Jimmie and Chrissy Sullivan; 21 years ago the Havegard retail store in Algoma closed, but on Nov. 25 it will be reopening. 

Havegard was a third-generation company that has been running since 1974 when it was established by Richard and Patty Sheehy.

Since 1995, the three Sheehy sons have run the Algoma plant before Jimmie and Chrissy took it over this September.

When asked why he wanted to purchase the Algoma plant, Jimmie stated, “Basically, all my life since I was young, I always was a big bird person. You know bird feeders since I was little. My grandpa kind of got me into it back in the late 70s, early 80s, into birding. I’ve always had birdfeeders all my life in the house.”

Jimmie has known Kevin Sheehy for a long time and was the first person to reach out to him in 2020 when they put the plant up for sale.

There were two locations for sale — the store in Sturgeon Bay and the Algoma plant.

Originally the brothers wanted to sell both together, but eventually agreed to sell them separately.

COVID-19 and the pricing of the plant made the process of purchasing a bit more difficult for Jimmie; but in 2022, Jimmie’s bid was accepted and everything took off from there.

“They have a good business going since 1974, you know, third generation. They had no other generations to move on to name, and I thought it would be a great thing to keep on what they have going. And, I have a lot more ideas too, you know — make it bigger and get it moving higher and higher than what they have currently got,” said Jimmie.

These ideas have already started being put into place with the reopening of the retail store at the Algoma plant.

There will be a soft opening this Sunday, Nov. 12, and the grand opening on Saturday, Nov. 25.

Now, Algoma residents won’t need to drive all of the way to Sturgeon Bay to buy their birdseed.

The new retail store is 1,000 square feet and will sell a range of bird feeders, bird houses, birdseed and paintings by a local artist.

Another idea Jimmie has is to partner with other companies, like Menards, to sell Havegard birdseed.

Currently, Fleet Farm and the Sturgeon Bay store are the biggest customers of Havegard birdseed.

While they have many other products, birdseed for cardinals is their specialty.

They have a mix called “Cardinal Sin” that has striped sunflowers, normal sunflowers and sunflower hearts, which are all ingredients that cardinals really enjoy.

Their wild bird mix for birds, like finches and chickadees, is unique from others since it has cherry juice in it.

“It sweetens up the mix, which, no one else does, of course, we’re the only one that does it, but that really sweetens up the mix, and it does make a difference in the bird seed. You put one feeder side by side from another mix to that one, and that one will go down first fast,” explained Jimmie.

Other products they offer include: seed mixes and thistle socks for finches, suet cakes for woodpeckers, corn, cob corn for squirrels, cotton for nest building, as well as their own gourmet mix that is a finer blend.

Jimmie shares another thing that is unique about Havegard.

“We don’t use milo, which is a waste product. A lot of places, you know, a lot of companies put this milo in it and no birds eat it. We do not use any of that. All our stuff in our bags, birds will eat. So, there’s no waste. There’s no filler,” he said.