THE GROWING JUNE 3, 2014 NURSERY BUSINESS BY JULIA ANDERSON Business Tribune INSIDE HILLSBORO’S GUITAR MECCA GREATBATCH MOVES OUT PORTLAND’S CROWDFUNDING THE POWER OF THE PEARL 2 BUSINESS TRIBUNE THINGS ARE TAKING OFF AT PDX Business ■ that’s closer to home. Whether in the offi ce or at home, 150,000 you now haveweekly another readersway to reach the ■ metro 60,000 area’s businesscopies leaders. Business news APRILAAPR 1, 2014 TribuneT IL 1, 2014 ribune MARCH 25, 2014 To advertise call your Pamplin advertising representative or call 503-684-0360 INSIDE SHWOOD’S ERIC SINGER UNITED GRAIN LOCKOUT THE RETURN OF SMELT Business INSIDEINSI COAL PROJECT NEEDS LAND Tribune TIGARD TEEN HAS APP-TITUDE DRIVE-THROUGH DE MEAT MARMARKET ALTERNATIVE WHY FLEETS ARE TURNING TO KET BY JOHN M. VINCENT FUELS BusinessMARCH 18, 2014 Tribune T ribune ON PORTLAND’S BURGEONING BURGEONING PORTLAND’S ON ECONOMICS ECONOMICS THE THE ■ 7 local newspapers DOWN AND DIRTY AND DOWN FILM BUSINESS FILM Tuesday, June 3, 2014 OF FILM OF BY BY KENDRA HOUGE THE THE 480722.040814BT Tuesday, June 3, 2014 BUSINESS TRIBUNE 3 Carol Linne, center, and Paul Irvin, left, ask some questions about vegetable planting to owner Sara Ori at the Portland THE Nursery. PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE GROWING NURSERY BUSINESS et Suzy Hancock at Portland Nurs- “We are hearing good things from growers. Everyone is Post-recession, the ery talking about tomatoes and she is happy to explain the 200 variet- very busy right now to get trees, plants and shrubs shipped outlook is good for Gies, their characteristics and how to keep them happy on cool Oregon nights. to customers. With its moisture, sun and winter dormancy, Tomatoes are just a small piece of the in- Oregon’s no. 2 ventory that Hancock keeps in her head as Oregon is a good place to grow things.” Portland Nursery’s general manager. It’s her agriculture business job to track all aspects of her company’s re- — Curt Kipp, Oregon Association of Nurseries tail plant and fl ower business where garden- ing and landscaping trends are always changing. She’s been at it 21 years — the last fi ve as general manager. That’s a promising improvement from the people interested in container gardening, This year, Portland Nursery, among the worst years of the Great Recession when smaller shrubs, borders and potted plants,” largest and oldest retailers (with two loca- sales plummeted 35 percent as new-home she said. BY tions) in the Portland area, expects near re- construction crashed and homeowners Spring and early summer is high season JULIA ANDERSON cord sales of $10 million. That’s a big num- pulled back on descretionary spending. for retail nursery sales. While Portland ber, but just a small part of the state’s “We made our adjustments, mostly in Nursery employs 60 full- and part-time wholesale-retail nursery industry that last scale,” Hancock said. “We reduced space de- people year-round, it brings on another 20 year generated an estimated combined sales voted to large landscaping, trees for in- people for the peak sales season. of about $750 million. Nursery sales rank No. stance, and moved into more detailed gar- While most retailers such as Portland 2 as Oregon’s most important agriculture dening, helping people plant vegetables. crop after hay. That cocooning trend is still at play with CONTINUED / Page 4 4 BUSINESS TRIBUNE Tuesday, June 3, 2014 Portland Gardening Trends: ■ Parents with young children want to garden with their kids. ■ Zero-scaping with drought-tolerant plants. ■ Native plant and pollinator gardening. ■ Kitchen gardening in boxes and pots. ■ Small shrubs and fl owers as accessories to patios and fi re pits ■ Cocooning and “staycations” make gardening an outdoor escape. Web site: http://www.plant somethingoregon.com/ A cart of Golden Maple trees and other plants at the Portland Nursery. PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE ■ the past 12 months, the industry is in some in gardening. “Our mission has always From page 3 cases playing catch-up to meet demand, Kipp said. A mission to educate been to educate. Right now, Nursery survived the downturn of the past “We are hearing good things from grow- “Our mission has always been to edu- we’ re seeing two ends of the six years, things have been much tougher ers,” he said. “Everyone is very busy right cate,” said Hancock about Portland Nurs- for Oregon’s wholesale growers, said Curt now to get trees, plants and shrubs shipped ery’s market approach. “Right now, we’re spectrum ... plant nerds Kipp with the 1,100-member Oregon Asso- to customers.” Three-quarters of those seeing two ends of the spectrum ... plant ciation of Nurseries. sales go to out-of-state buyers. nerds who have been working in their gar- who have been working in “When you stop building houses, you “With its moisture, sun and winter dor- dens for years and new gardeners interest- stop building streets and planting trees,” mancy, Oregon is a good place to grow ed in the basics.” their gardens for years and Kipp said about the impact of the reces- things,” Kipp said. “We are second only to Among those newcomers are stay-at- sion. The result was consolidation with Florida in nursery sales and No. 1 in Christ- home parents with young children who new gardeners interested in some wholesalers leaving the business, al- mas tree sales.” Sales include tree seedlings want to do things with their kids, she said. together. Oregon’s nursery sales peaked in and plugs as well as fl orist-potted azaleas. Meanwhile, the Oregon nursery associa- the basics.” 2007 at nearly $1 billion before hitting bot- With markets on the mend, both whole- tion has launched a Web site called plant- tom in 2010 at $676 million. salers and retailers are working to attract — Suz y Hancock, Portland Nursery With homebuilding activity resuming in new customers and generate new interest CONTINUED / Page 5 PRESIDENT V ICE PRESIDENT CIRCULATION REPORTER PHOTOGRAPHERS J. Mark Garber Brian Monihan MANAGER Joseph Gallivan Jonathan House, Jaime Valdez PortlandTribune Business Kim Stephens WEB SITE OF F ICES Tribune EDITOR AND ADV ERTISING DIRECTOR DESIGN ASSOCIATE PUB LISHER CREATIV E portlandtribune.com 6605 S.E. Lake Road Christine Moore Pete Vogel Portland, OR 97222 Vance W. Tong SERV ICES MANAGER CONTACT 503-226-6397 (NEWS) Cheryl DuVal [email protected] Tuesday, June 3, 2014 BUSINESS TRIBUNE 5 ■ From page 3 Oregon Nurseries & Greenhouses Annual somethingoregon.com where gardeners can select their location Gross Sales and fi nd lists of nursery suppliers and landscape professionals in their area. The site also lists mail-order nurseries, public gar- 2013 $750 million* dens and gardening events. 2012 $745 million “Our program as part of the national Plant Something project 2011 $744 million is meant to explain to people the lifestyle benefi ts of planting 2010 $676 million something in their yards...trees, shrubs, fl owers, edibles. Just 2009 $740 million the act of going outside is healthy,” Kipp said. 2008 $820 million Industry challenges 2007 $988 million While renewed market demand is bolstering the industry, 2006 $966 million challenges remain, said both Kipp and Hancock. Among those: 2005 $877 million Shortages, especially trees, because growers cut back on 2004 $779 million planting and now are struggling to meet demand. The shortage likely will linger for a few years while seedlings grow and are 2002 $727 million ready for market. 2001 $680 million ■ Attracting newcomers to gardening and making gardening a lifestyle choice. Source: Oregon Association of ■ Keeping up with gardening and landscaping trends as con- Nurseries. sumers become interested in where their food is coming from. * Estimate. ■ Making sure that new younger customers who are accus- tomed to fi nding everything on the Internet are rewarded. “It’s really important to pay attention...there’s a large space be- Kristy tween the two ends - new customers and those who’ve been doing Cameron and it longer,” Hancock said. her pup Apollo Is she optimistic about her business? peruse the “Absolutely...it’s the kind of business where it’s easy to be op- native shrub timistic,” she said. “We’re here to help people fi nd out more section of about plants and decide what works for them.” Portland “Wholesalers are emerging from the recession wiser to mar- Nursery. ket changes, more effi cient and poised to meet demand,” said Kipp. PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: JONATHAN HOUSE Beaverton / Cedar Hills 2905 SW Cedar Hills Blvd. 503.626.1400 Hillsboro / Tanasbourne 2364 NW Amberbrook Dr. 503.352.5252 Oregon City / Hilltop 334 Warner Milne Rd. 503.722.8222 West Linn / Ristorante 18740 Willamette Dr. 503.636.9555 ENT BUGATTISRESTAURANT.COM 437753.060613 6 BUSINESS TRIBUNE Tuesday, June 3, 2014 Geoff Metts of F ive Star Guitars is celebrating not only being named one of the world’ s Top 1 0 0 music stores, but also the recent opening of a new store. PAMPLIN MEDIA GROUP: DOUG B URKHARDT GEOF F METTS OF F IV E STAR GUITARS IS CEL- EB RATING NOT ONLY B EING NAMED ONE OF THE WORLD’ S TOP 1 0 0 MUSIC STORES, B UT ALSO THE RECENT OPENING OF A NEW STORE DOWNTOWN AT 2 7 0 E. MAIN ST. HILLSB ORO TRIB UNE PHOTO: DOUG B URKHARDT Hillsboro shop celebrated as guitar mecca is really a big deal for us,” said Geoff Metts, “The downtown store has retail up front, Five Star Guitars co-owner of Five Star Guitars. “It adds a cer- “We wanted to keep and our Internet offi ces are in the back,” tain level of legitimacy and it feels great.” Metts explained.