Rotterdam Junction's Hungry Chicken Country Store feeds food, gift appetite - Biz Beat

The Hungry Chicken Country Store is filled with local artisan crafts like signs made out of license plate pieces, crocheted items, speciality jams and other eclectic finds you likely won’t get from anywhere else nearby.

The smell of sweet pastries or bacon sizzling on the cooktop for breakfast sandwiches usually fills the air.

Owners Louise Dickinson and her husband Jeff Klein purchased the 10-acre property in May 2017, which also included a house and apple orchard. It had formerly been the site of the Apple Junction Country Store.

Dickinson, who previously worked as a General Electric engineer, didn’t have any experience running a retail store. Klein, an information technology specialist, had done some farmers markets but that was about it. Even still, the pair decided to jump right in.

To get people in the door, the couple started cooking up breakfast sandwiches.

“That was never really our intention,” Dickinson said. “It was going to be more of a gift shop, country store, farm market. Our intention was to have apples, produce, that sort of thing.”

But now, the sandwiches are such a hit in the community they suggest people order ahead.

The “Basic” breakfast sandwich features bacon piled high with ham or sausage and two eggs, plus cheese with a condiment of your choosing on a freshly baked kaiser roll. There’s also a veggie option and a sandwich called the widow-maker, which includes bacon, ham, sausage, two eggs and double cheese on a roll.

After the sandwiches really picked up pace, the couple turned to baked goods.

“We have a scratch kitchen,” Klein said.

“Two of our employees are also really, really talented bakers, so the three of us bake two or three times a week,” Dickinson said.

The pastries are now featured at Shorty’s Restaurant in Amsterdam.

“We’ve had to add more cakes and cheesecake,” Dickinson said.

Beyond the tasty delights the store offers, there are also unique items people can purchase, created by Dickinson, from signs and mugs to hummingbird feeders.

“I was brought up by a woman who was very crafty,” she said.

She also makes jams, jellies and pickles. It was something she had done prior to owning the store and just gave the items away to friends and family.

One of the most important aspects of the store for the couple is being able to feature other local small businesses. So, when you walk into Hungry Chicken the coffee bags sold there come from Glenville roaster Samuel Nally and the store carries freeze-dried candy from Flavor Savours in Amsterdam, plus many more local items.

The owners will be starting up ice cream soon, which also has local roots. The ice cream mix is from Dygert Farms in Palatine Bridge.

“I’d rather help the little guys,” Dickinson said.

While running the business has had its ups and downs, the couple has been able to keep expanding — adding more offerings, including a chicken sandwich — and beginning to operate seven days a week.

Next, the duo is working toward getting a license to create and sell hard cider.

“People have asked us about the lottery and cigarettes and stuff, but that’s not the image we want,” Klein said.

The couple said the store has turned into everything they had hoped it would be.

“It’s like a small community,” Dickinson said. “As long as we’re able, we’ll do this.”