Upside: Garden center sees growth
Tom Givvin at the Marina del Rey Garden Center in Los Angeles tells how and why his business is doing well in the recession.
A sign for the Marina del Rey Garden Center in Marina del Rey, Calif. (marinagardencenter.com)
More on America's Financial Crisis
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: Bad as the economy is, there are a lot of businesses out there doing pretty well despite, or maybe because of the recession. Today we're going to kick off a series called "The Upside," where we profile businesses that are doing better than most. Garden centers are a good one. Penny pinchers are planting their own fruits and veggies to cut down on grocery bills. And they do have to get those seeds and starter plants someplace.
TOM Givvin: My name is Tom Given, and I own the Marina del Rey Garden Center.
We've seen a lot of growth, and in vegetables, herbs, edibles would be citrus, fruit trees, anything of that nature.
We're an independent garden center, we're not a chain. And we've developed a relationship with our customers, and they know that they can trust what we're going to tell them, and suggestions we'll make to them. And by building that trust with the consumer, they come back and they help us be successful.
The families are bringing their children, and they're picking out the seeds, the vegetables. You know, stuff like corn. And the kids are really getting excited about it because I don't think they had any concept of where their food came from. It does not come from the supermarket. And if families turn a little section of their garden into growing food, I think they'll understand better where food comes from.
Gardeners are very passionate people, and regardless of what the economy is doing, they will continue to garden. They'll find ways to cut back, but they're not going to eliminate gardening.
RYSSDAL: That was Tom Givvin at the Marina del Rey Garden Center not far from downtown Los Angeles.
Comments
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From Mars Hill, NC, 07/08/2009
What a cool little story; I really like the point about kids not knowing where their food comes from. Gardening brings us all home. (I liked the music in the audio, too!)
From Guerneville, CA, 07/07/2009
How refreshing for you to find a ray of sunshine in the gloom! I am sure nurserymen have had to wait their turn for this good fortune. Maybe now greed for acquisition is no longer job one, those still lucky enough to have a piece of earth to plant on can literally enjoy the fruits of their labors.
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