Banter about horse feed and riding chaps filled the 2-Bar-O Country Store this week, little more than a year after the store's owners feared they would have to close.
"We've been blessed, we've been blessed," said Lloyd Ormsby, who has owned and managed the East Side store at 7821 E. Wrightstown Road with his brother for more than 35 years.
Longtime customers, many of them East Side horse owners, rallied in the last year to help Frank and Lloyd Ormsby after the brothers temporarily turned store management over to a new hire two years ago.
The new manager stole from them and didn't fill orders, Lloyd Ormsby said.
At the time, the brothers were settling in new ranch property and were too busy to be in the store regularly. By the time they realized the manager was not doing his job, they said longtime customers were turning away.
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The case, which is being investigated by the Tucson Police Department's fraud unit, is still pending, he said.
"He put us so deep in the hole. We've come a long way in the last year. Our customers have been very supportive," Frank Ormsby said.
While business is going well, the brothers did have to file for bankruptcy about three months ago and are now restructuring their finances.
Lloyd Ormsby said he hopes customers aren't fooled into thinking the store is closed when they take down their signs in the next few weeks.
The brothers received a notice of violation from the Tucson Department of Neighborhood Resources for signs advertising their business and products on their fences and buildings.
"The city showed up the other day and said, 'You've got to take your sign down,' " Lloyd Ormsby said. "One of them has been out there 30 years."
Teresa Williams, code enforcement administrator for Tucson's Department of Neighborhood Resources, said the city started a new sign-enforcement project in early September.
"I don't know if these signs were complaint-driven or not," she said of the Ormsbys' signs.
Williams said the project is in response to general complaints her department has received about signs that clutter fences and right of ways.
The Ormsby brothers said that since they don't advertise, except by word of mouth, they hope they don't need the signs.
The brothers started their business more than 35 years ago with about $100 and a dream of having a store supported by neighbors and friends.
Bill Stoll is a horseman and longtime customer who stopped coming under the new management, but is again loyal to the business. "I've been coming here for as long as I've had horses," said Stoll, 65.
Ray Morris said he relies on the Ormsby brothers not only for hay and feed, but also for horse talk.
"We've known them since they started," said Morris, 43. "We use some other feed stores sometimes, but only in a pinch. They're old-time country boys so they know what they're talking about."
Lloyd Ormsby said they try to treat their customers with equal loyalty.
"Almost all of our people are repeat customers. If someone comes in here and they've forgotten their checkbook, they still get their stuff," Lloyd said.
"We're old-school. If it were up to us, we'd still be parking horses out here."
