The Cooney’s Behind ‘The Apple Store’

The Apple Store is truly run by our family for families. Our family owns and operates Cooney Farms, a division of which is The Apple Store.  On any given Saturday it’s common to see three generations working side by side in the store, with the fourth one stopping in occasionally for a visit!

The Apple Store had its beginnings, like any good crop, as a small seed back in 1983. Back then, the steel-clad structure served as a warehouse for Marvin Cooney and his brother Norman to wash, sort, wax, pack and ship their Cooney Farms apples to grocery stores across Ontario. A small storefront was maintained to sell fruit locally on weekends.

By 1988, Marvin’s son Rodney was ready to take over the business from his uncle Norman. Marvin, his wife Lynda and Rodney and his wife Lisa became joint partners owning Cooney Farms. The agriculture market in Ontario was changing. The shipping of apples across Ontario ended but the small retail outlet remained.

In 2002, we called a local carpenter friend and a major renovation began. The square footage of the storefront was doubled and an inviting wraparound porch was added.  The result was a destination store everyone loves to visit.

After nearly 60 years of primarily focusing on our 100 head dairy farm and around 800 acres of crops, we sold the dairy quota in December of 2005 and devoted more energy into The Apple Store. Cooney Farms is still under operation, involved in many different ventures such as cash cropping, custom work and proudly raising our ‘Homegrown Beef’ to market inside The Apple Store.