The Fall Event 2016
Tour of Garden Retailing
Wednesday, September 28 – continued
Plants for All Seasons, Houston, Texas
Victor Flaherty started Plants for All Seasons in 1973 at the age of 21, and now after years of hard work and dedication he has been able to step aside and allow his four amazing children to run the day-to-day operations of the nursery. They have seen a lot of growth as the community expanded around them, and in 1999 they got a new neighbor when The Home Depot moved in next door.
Situated on 4.1 acres( 2 acres of retail space), Plants for All Seasons has flourished in the face of“ Big Box” competition. Following Depot’ s doors opening, they experienced a 20 % increase in sales and never looked back. Their business has continued to thrive. Perhaps due to Victor’ s positive view of life – and his neighbor. They are very grateful that“ The Big Orange” employees send their customers next door when they can’ t answer a question or don’ t have the product. Plants for All Seasons is fortunate to have a loyal customer base – some for 43 years.
Warren’ s Southern Gardens, Kingwood, Texas
Dean and Bernice Warren started Warren’ s Southern Gardens, a full service garden center, in 2009, at a time when Kingwood and the surrounding area had seen some growth, but has since exploded with large corporate campuses and bedroom communities.
Warren’ s is a great example of leveraging the resources of The Group and they have quickly developed a successful center with a unique personality and character.
“ I learned a lot from the tour. Following our visit to Koetsier’ s, I purchased one of the games, and I’ m going to have the bee ride made for next year. I also saw some new items from the vendors that I’ m going to carry. I got a book autographed from Ernest Wertheim, which is fabulous. What a hero! Katie Doran( Wiegand), my niece, learned a lot about emailing, Facebook, Instagram, etc. just from a gentleman she met in class. It is nice just to catch up with everybody.”
Erma Rhadigan, Ray Wiegands Nursery, Macomb, MI
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