Gardener’s Supply Expands to Western Mass

Ellen C. Wells

The Burlington, Vermont-based online and in-store purveyor of gardening gear will be opening their fourth retail location in 2020. I should say, they’re acquiring the store—they’ll be taking over Hadley Garden Center in Hadley, Massachusetts.

According to both Vermont and Massachusetts local newspapers, owners Tom and Janine Giles were considering their next moves after being at the helm of the garden center for more than 30 years. Gardener’s Supply, which has other retail locations in Burlington and Williston, Vermont, and Lebanon, New Hampshire, had been “extremely selective” in scouting locations for their fourth store and Hadley was at the top of their list.

“We’re proud and grateful to have the opportunity to help Tom and Janine with business succession,” said CEO Jim Feinson of the acquisition. “They’re just fantastic folks to work with and really smart, really caring business owners. The Hadley Garden Center has a terrific reputation and we look forward to building on their legacy.”

Gardener’s Supply is 100% employee-owned, encourages employee volunteerism and donates 8% of all its profits to causes that improve the world through gardening. While Tom and Janine wanted their store to be locally owned, Gardener’s Supply being employee-owned and mission-driven were definitely selling points for new ownership. The official closing will be sometime in January and the couple will aid in the transition through spring. Gardener’s Supply has no sweeping changes planned and will proceed with a “what works best locally” strategy for the store. They’ll add online purchasing and some exclusive Gardener’s Supply products.

“Different communities ask for different things,” Gardener’s Supply’s retail general manager Pat Pearsall said. “And so we’ll listen to the customers and adapt to what they want.” GP