OSWEGO – Christopher Farmer runs F&F Bargains with support from his daughter, Mariah Farmer. The Farmers take great pride in helping the Oswego community through good deals and charity work.
“My daughter is hard working just like me,” said Chris, “people like her, people want to give her their money. They keep coming back.”
In addition to working in F&F and the service industry, Mariah wants to help the Oswego community in any way she can. “During the winter I make homeless baskets, handwarmers, and we give out food,” said Mariah, “we love to help people, I love to help people. It’s a lot. But I met someone at Walmart the other day, and he told me that I helped him.”
“I like to make sure everyone is helped. I make Easter baskets and also create baskets for the homeless. I think I started in 2021. And they come out of my own pocket,” said Mariah. “We used to take donations, but the things people were giving us weren’t in good shape. So, we only take donations if it’s new.”
“I see homeless people holding my blankets. It feels excellent,” said Mariah.
Chris received 5 years in prison for marijuana. “Most people say it’s a joke. 5 years of my life were taken from me,” said Chris. The charge on his record means less to Chris than the time he lost. “People tell me I should get it expunged. I don’t care; the piece of paper would not give me back the time I lost.”
24 out of 50 states have made marijuana legal in recent years. Despite arrests still being high in states that still have it illegal, the Association for the Recreational Cannabis Legalization has recorded a 40% decrease in arrests in 5 states where cannabis is legal.
The popularity and illegality of marijuana have led to numerous people who typically would never be imprisoned getting put away. An admitted hustler, Chris, saw a chance to make money and help people by selling marijuana. While seen as relatively harmless by most people today, there wasn’t much leeway for people who had anything to do with marijuana.
“I stood out like a sore thumb in prison, because I didn’t belong. People would ask me, ‘What are you in here for?’, said Chris, “they had to pull up my paperwork. I had like 6 guards laughing at me. They told me that there was a female guard who got caught bringing in more weed to the facility than you got caught with, and she didn’t get any time.”
Mariah loves working with her father and is happy to have him in her life. “When he was in prison, it was obviously hard,” said Mariah, “everyone judged me, told me I was going to be an addict, that I wasn’t going to do well in life. I made it a point never to do drugs. I try to help kids whose parents are incarcerated. Just to let them know they aren’t alone.”
F&F Bargains gets its inventory from liquidation orders. These items come from stores and sites that have orders that were cancelled, sustained box damage, returned by customers, were self-pulled, or are overstock.
F&F Bargains bids on trucks in auctions that are filled with items being liquidated from businesses like Amazon and Target.
“Customer returns, that’s one area where people say, ‘well, if it’s returned, then is everything broken’”, said Chris, “half the time people return something because it’s the wrong size, color, or they just didn’t like it. Sometimes they return it saying it’s broken, but sometimes it’s not.”
F\&F Bargains always hopes to give the community deals. They are doing raffle baskets on the weekends. They will also continue to have their mystery boxes filled with new products.
Never Sleep Again will be hosting a Halloween event, dubbed ‘The Haunted Lot At F&F Bargains’ on October 18th from 5 PM – 8 PM. The event will be free to attend.
The Farmers are constantly thinking of new ways to help the Oswego community. Mariah has taken a larger role in event and deal planning at F&F, and hopes to repay the community for the support they’ve shown their store.
“I also plan to do an Armed Forces Day; veterans already get a 10% discount here, so I want to give them 20% off,” said Mariah. “I just want to appreciate them. I want to host a customer appreciation day. I’m trying to honor the community, all different walks of life. I want them to feel special.”
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