A passion for pickles

By LOUISE PLATTER – Web Writer

Phickles Pickles owner Angie Tillman uses pickled vegetables to save her family and support Athens’ local economy.

Rows of pickled carrots, okra and green beans sit on Phickles Pickles owner Angie Tillman’s porch. Little do passersby know, those pickles have saved Angie’s large family and have supported the local economy.

“I still remember the very first person who came to the porch. Jana Hollingsworth bought a six pack of beans, pickled beans, 36 bucks,” Angie said.

Angie’s passion for local businesses began in her childhood in Albany, Ga. Her grandparents owned a farm on which she spent her weekends.

“I can’t say that I loved it (then), but I do now. I look back on it I’m really lucky to have these memories and this way of life,” Angie said.

Angie moved to Athens in 1992 to work for Athens’ First Bank. She later met her husband Phinzy Tillman, a builder, who often made pickles, using a recipe from his childhood, as a hobby.

“The recipe is an old recipe, anybody can make it. It originated from my husband’s friend’s grandma,” Angie said.

In 1997 Angie quit her job at the bank in order to stay at home with her two children. She also worked as a teacher’s aide at St. Joseph’s Catholic School.

During this time, Angie’s family grew to include one more child, increasing its size to five members, Kat, Billups and Rosey.

In 2008, during the economic downturn, Angie and her husband were nervous about the stability of his job.

“I have three children and I was watching him come home every day, stressed out and worried, about how he was losing houses,” Angie said.

Business was steadily declining and Angie’s life seemed to be filled with financial stress.

“We were really worried. It was very stressful in our house,” Tillman said. “My husband wasn’t telling me everything and he was afraid of what was about to happen.”

Angie decided to save her family. While her husband was away on a hunting trip, she decided to pursue a new business venture

“It was always kind of in the back of my mind that we would one day sell these pickles,” Angie said. “I just stayed in my pajamas all weekend and within two days we had the Phickles Facebook page talking about our pickles.”

Angie did not expect a hugely popular reception to her homemade pickled vegetables, but hoped that it would aid in supporting the family.

“We got a business license and started selling (the pickles) on Facebook. I didn’t think that it was going to be anything; I just thought that I could make some cash at home and it just grew,” Angie said.

In the early days of Phickles Pickles, Angie would post her latest batch of pickled vegetables on Facebook and take orders from her friends. She would then leave those orders on what she calls “The Pickle Porch” for their shoppers to pick up on their purchases when convenient.

Angie’s business grew exponentially through Facebook. It became clear that Angie would be able to support her family from Phickles Pickles.

“Orders started coming in and I couldn’t keep up with the orders. We started selling to Bell’s Food Store here in town. I always say, Bell’s pays the rent at our facility because they were the first big client,” Angie said.

By 2010, she was distributing to the entire southeast.

“It’s all around the southeast; we do the panhandle of Florida, and the other side of Florida, up to the coast. It’s kind of like a big circle, Tennessee and back around,” Angie said.

Once Angie knew that her family’s finances had stabilized, she began to pursue other goals. Angie decided to focus on her a passion for keeping the local community alive.

“We only sell to locally owned businesses. People are always saying, ‘Oh, wait till you’re in Whole Foods (or) wait till you’re in Earth Fare,” Angie said. “They’ve already asked me but I sell to the local shops that are right across the street from those big stores.”

Due to the unique nature of Angie’s products, local businesses that stock her pickles have seen an increase in customers.

“The store owners are telling me that people who would never have come in before are coming in just because the pickles are there,” Angie said.

Angie is grateful to be based in Athens due to the city’s tradition of supporting local businesses.

“I think it’s just really cool how Athens is so local-supporting. That’s helped Phickles work because we started here in Athens, a town that really likes to support local,” Angie said.

Angie appreciates that the business that saved her family and has contributed so much to Athens’ community of local businesses had also brought her family together.

“It has brought us closer. We don’t have a choice. We’re all right there together,” Angie said.

Every Saturday, Angie and her oldest daughter Clarke Central High School freshman Kat Tillman work at a farmer’s market in Atlanta together.

“I wouldn’t know a lot about what’s going on in her life because with three kids, if they’re all in the car together it’s usually just telling them not to fight with each other,” Angie said. “To have one on one time with her every Saturday is pretty cool to me.”

Kat is thankful for what Phickles Pickles has added to her family.

“Before Phickles, I think that my life was just kind of like an average life. You know, come home, talk about what I did that day, and not all this crazy pickle stuff,” Kat said. “I love it though. I feel really unique and different.”

Angie intends to continue expanding her business within the local community for as long as she can.
“We’ve kind of made our business about the community and it just feels good,” Angie said.