Martin Viette Closing (For Now?)

Jennifer Polanz

After 87 years in business, Martin Viette Nurseries in East Norwich, New York, closed its doors in December, according to an article on the Newsday website. Operations Manager Jack Passauer told the news organization a commercial landscaping company bought the business and the inventory, but not the 42-acres on which the business was located. He said the owners didn’t want the name of the landscape company disclosed at the time of publication. Since then, the phone has been disconnected and the social media presence has gone dormant.

The business had been run by brothers Michael and Russell Ireland, and their father Russell H. Ireland Jr. before that. Russell Jr. had purchased it from Swiss immigrant Martin Viette, who opened the nursery in 1929 in Syossett, before moving it to the current location.

Jack told Newsday the new owners plan to reopen the business as a garden center (presumably in a different location) in the spring. GP