Boosting Revenues

Barbara Mulhern

Thirty one years in the business hasn’t stopped Jim and Judy Mitchell from coming up with new ideas to increase their customer base, reduce labor costs and increase sales.

Jim and Judy, co-owners of Mitchell’s Nursery and Greenhouse in King, North Carolina, have implemented a number of ideas that have kept them ahead of the competition in their area.

“We have done a lot with tourism,” says Jim, whose greenhouse business is about 50% retail and 50% wholesale. “I kept seeing signs on the highway about wineries and vineyards in North Carolina,” Jim says, so he went to Raleigh to meet with North Carolina Department of Agriculture and other government officials, and won approval—plus assistance—in placing signage along U.S. Highway 52 that states: “Mitchell’s Nursery Tours.”

“We were the first nursery and greenhouse in North Carolina to do this (in 2002). It brought in a lot of business from out of state,” Jim says. “Since then, we have had visitors from 29 other states and Canada.”
For a greenhouse operation located three miles off the main highway, the signage has been a great way to both increase business and educate future customers. “It has brought in a lot of garden clubs and school groups. We give the first and second graders a couple of cucumber seeds and make labels with their names on them. They then take them home and watch them grow,” Jim says.

Growing the business
Mitchell’s Nursery and Greenhouse, started by Jim and Judy on a lot next to their house, now has about 21,000 sq. ft. of greenhouse growing space, plus additional space outdoors where trees and shrubs are grown. Jim and Judy both have horticulture degrees from North Carolina State University, and Judy is a Certified Plant Professional.

The couple, their son Jay, two other full-time employees and an average of six seasonal employees sell retail to a predominantly middle-income customer base within a 30- to 40-mi. radius. Among the wholesale customers for whom they custom grow plants are the cities of Statesville and Mount Airy, a hospital, a golf course and several landscape contractors.

“We started out rooting and growing azaleas, then trees and shrubs, then garden mums,” Judy says. Today, Mitchell’s Nursery and Greenhouse grows everything from cold-hardy spring vegetables and summer vegetables to trees, shrubs, bedding plants, geraniums, Proven Winner plants and Ball Horticultural Company Simply Beautiful plants. 

“We bring in our Easter lilies,” Judy says. “We tried to grow them one year and they bloomed a week after Easter.”
Mitchell’s has had much better luck with poinsettias during the Christmas season. In fact, Judy says, “We are one of seven commercial greenhouse operations in the United States and Canada that holds poinsettia trials.” This past winter, Mitchell’s grew 70 different varieties of poinsettias and sold all 9,000 that it grew. This was an increase of about 1,000 over the year before.

By early November of last year, Jim and Judy had already scheduled one poinsettia presentation, two tours and a live report at the greenhouse from a local television station. “Sometimes you have to make your own news,” Judy says, adding that “we always try to grow enough poinsettias to give some away at the end of the season to nursing homes, the kidney dialysis center, hospice and shut-ins.”

One major change Jim and Judy made when they began growing poinsettias was switching from individual Quonset houses to a gutter house. “We have the only gutter house in this area,” Judy says. The one big house—as opposed to several individual houses—has enabled them to save money in labor costs.

The couple has also taken a number of energy conservation steps. Among these were: Installation of an energy curtain in the summer of 2008 to help conserve heat.

Use of drip irrigation to conserve water. “This was the best idea our son came up with for us—a drip line on the benches,” Jim says. In the past, everything was hand watered. Jim strongly suggests that other growers who grow in 6-in. pots or larger use drip line irrigation.

Other ideas Jim and Judy have incorporated to save money and successfully grow their business are:
Pre-buying propane off season when prices are low. In July or August, they talk to their supplier about whether prices are indeed low, then pay for what they will need for the entire year. Last year, they did not pre-buy because prices were high and their supplier advised against it.

Trying out new plants wholesale in order to help build their retail operation. A landscape contractor, for example, may ask Jim and Judy to grow a new product that may or may not even be on the market. They will grow a few extra and if successful, sell them to their retail customers, as well. “This has really helped us expand our retail,” Jim notes.

Selling unpurchased wholesale products to their retail customers. “Last year, we were stuck with a lot of hanging baskets one garden center didn’t buy from us,” Judy says. “So I put them out for sale to our retail customers the weekend after Father’s Day.” The result? The couple got a higher price for the baskets retail than they would have wholesale—and had the most successful July they have ever had. As a result, they grew extra hanging basket plants this year to sell to their retail customers in mid to late summer. GT

Barbara Mulhern is a freelance writer from Verona, Wisconsin.