Who we are & What we do…
Our story
Our story begins in 1927, when Oscar J. Krieger decided to open a feed store in the Kirkwood, Missouri area. The business then started its official transition into becoming a hatchery, where we incubated hundreds of thousands of baby chicks to be sold. Later, Oscar introduced selling rabbits, before finally settling on focusing the business on just feed & garden supplies.
When it came time to retire, Oscar sold his business to his son, Ronald O. Krieger, who is still a current proud owner! Today, Ron and his wife Pat, along with their two sons Steve & Mark, run the family business. Even their grandchildren presently work, and hope to continue for years to come, making O.K. Hatchery 4 generations strong!
Today, our goal is to provide the best possible service and build close connections to our loyal customers. Here, you’ll feel just like family. We appreciate all of your questions and love to help! With expertise like ours, you’ll surely leave pleased and satisfied.
Fun Fact: The O.K. stands for Oscar Krieger, our founder!
O.K. Hatchery’s 4-Generations! Featuring Ron & Pat Krieger, Mark Krieger, Steve Krieger and his children Erickson, Emily, and Mallory. All of which worked at our family business.
Horticultural Expertise
We love to answer any questions you may have about gardening! Whether you need help starting or just have general questions, we’re more than happy to help!
Like everyone, we might not know everything. But we will always do our best to research the issue or point you in the right direction.
Photos & Media
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Ronald Krieger as a child sweeping the store in 1939.
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Ron accepting "Business of The Year" award from the Chamber of Commerce.
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Mark and Steve Krieger standing beside their father, Ron, outside of the new building.
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Ronald Krieger managing the inventory in the old office back in 1987.
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Steve Krieger sweeping up the store front in 1987.
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Mark Krieger weighing up seed for customers in 1987.
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Steve Krieger welcomes his new daughter, and fourth generation, Emily Krieger to O.K. Hatchery with Pat and Ron Krieger in 1997.
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1930 - Our first location located off West Essex.
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Our second location off West Argonne.
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Our third location off Madison.
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1989 - Our final two locations off East Argonne.
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Old newspaper clipping from when the current location was bought and became the O.K. Hatchery we know today.
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Old newspaper clipping in O.K. Hatchery's 3 generations.
When originally awarded “Business of the Year” from the Chamber of Commerce, Ron and Pat were on vacation. However, that didn’t stop Rons father, Oscar, from giving this acceptance speech in their place:
Articles
Reviews from Our Customers
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A rustic hatchery that truly holds the vibe of downtown Kirkwood. We get our chicks here in the spring & they have always been healthy happy birds! The staff is welcoming, courteous, helpful and will help load heavy objects without need of asking. This is one of the only few places in the area to get feed. They also sell various chicken treats (scratch) by the pound. The store carries books, boots, chimes and needful things to assist the urban farmer.. along with sound advice for your flock. It's the only place we go for our happy hens!
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This place is the bees knees. They have all the feed and flowers and seeds and gardening stuff you could want. Staff is always super friendly and helpful; not to mention knowledgeable. And they have a darling mouser named Shiloh who is getting up in age but she is cute as a button.
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They have everything you need for your chickens! The staff is very knowledgeable, and they were able to help me make decisions as to what would best suit my chickens right now. They even helped me figure out some solutions for my special needs chicken! I love coming here, and I highly recommend it.
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Pretty much everything you need for your green thumb is here! While there are definitely places you can purchase your flowers or vegetable plants cheaper, there is nothing the serious gardener won't find at OK. Need a specific grass seed that thrives in the shade... they have it. Want a certain kind of bird to hang around your bird feeder, they can get as nuanced as you like. Need to knock out some weeds? How many choices would you like? My personal favorite is their mole trap. It never misses and if you clean the rust of if it once a year, you should get a decade or more out of one. I hate moles with a passion as they destroy my beautiful yard, but the mole traps I own from OK have saved my lawn! On top of this, right across the street from the Kirkwood Farmer's Market and one block from the historic train station!
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If you're a gardener, this is a place to visit at least once. The building is crammed with stuff. This could be good and bad. Prices for soil amendments are cheaper than other places. Other items looked like they'd been sitting on the shelves for EVER... There are garden items, pet supplies, plants. Service was okay. I came in very early spring so they were just starting to have blooming bulbs out.
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