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Meet Rebecca and Sharyn Seitz of Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry in Downtown Scottsdale

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Rebecca and Sharyn Seitz.

Rebecca and Sharyn, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
In 2011, I was working as a marketing consultant in the Phoenix area. Mom (Sharyn) was working as a finance executive in DC and looking forward to her return to Scottsdale. I grew up in Scottsdale, and Mom always knew she would “retire” back here in Arizona. Playing around with the idea of “what’s next?”, we discovered that the Heetland family was looking for a new family to take over the Sphinx Date Ranch, which had been operating in Scottsdale at this point for over 65 years. We were intrigued by the idea of using our experience in a totally new way.

In May of 2012, we took over Sphinx, charged with learning the ins and outs of dates. After about a year, we rebranded and remodeled the store that has been at its current location since 1992. We’ve added a large selection of Arizona made foods, local wine, and craft beer, and have continued to expand our selection of unique local-made gift baskets.

We are excited to continue the tradition of a longstanding family business. On top of continuing the business legacy, we love working with local producers, hearing the story behind their products, and passing that on to our customers. We have amazing customers, some of whom have been gifting with us for over 30 years.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Over the decades, Sphinx grew primarily as a specialty mail order and catalog business catering to country club visitors in the Camelback Mountain area. It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the store was even open year round, before that closing in the summer when tourism is slow. As many local businesses, especially in a tourist-centric area like Downtown Scottsdale, business gets slow as snowbirds and visitors escape our heat. On top of the weather, date buying slows in summer as customers anticipate the new crops in Fall. We found we were well-known among out of state visitors and among date fans but needed to build local recognition to keep business up year round. This meant expanding our product selection and sharing our name and story in the community.

With the task in mind to attract more of our neighbors in, we embarked on a rebranding project to freshen things up. Going through this exercise was a bit scary as we feared to change things too much and risk turning off our loyal longtime customers. While we completely changed the name and look, we kept all of our original date gifts exactly as is and added a variety of other local items to add appeal beyond our dates. We received many calls of well-wishes from customers excited to see the new Sphinx, thanking us that they could continue their own family traditions rooted in our dates. Now, as more residences are built up around our store, we are meeting our neighbors and learning how to grow what we offer with the community needs, all the while maintaining our heritage.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Sphinx Date Co. Palm & Pantry story. Tell us more about the business.
In 1928 when a new hybrid date variety was discovered in a Phoenix neighborhood, founders planted a palm tree grove at the base of Camelback Mountain and named it Sphinx Date Ranch. In the following decades, Sphinx would emerge as a nationwide source for top quality Arizona grown dates. Since the 1950s we have provided fresh date gifts and local products to recipients around the world. To this day, we hand sort and pack Arizona grown dates grown by independent family farmers.

In addition to offering edible gifts of dates, dried fruits, and nuts, we have a wide selection of Arizona made pantry goods, local wine, craft beer, and we serve Date Shakes!! With over 60 years in business, we have many customers who have trusted us with their gift giving for decades.

It is an honor to be a part of their family traditions. We’ve found that dates invoke a memory of nostalgia ranging from Grandma’s date pinwheel cookies to a staple item at family holidays and various religious ceremonies. It is not just a simple sweet treat we are giving to our customers; it is the perseverance of tradition and heritage that inspires us. We continue to tell the story of one of the oldest fruits on Earth and its place in Arizona’s community. We are inspired to work with other local producers each telling their own unique food story, finding ways to collaborate to elevate locally made products of the past and future.

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