Stacy’s Garden Center closing after 39 years in York

Stacy’s Garden Center is closing after 39 years of operation.

Metrolina Greenhouses of Huntersville, N.C., which recently bought the entire Stacy’s operation, said the center will close Nov. 3.

Abe Van Wingerden, co-CEO of Metrolina, said stand-alone garden centers are getting more difficult to operate because of competition from Lowe’s, Home Depot and Walmart – which buy plants from Metrolina’s wholesale operation.

Garden centers “not located in high traffic areas” are even harder to operate, he said, because of the lack of impulse purchases.

Metrolina does not have any retail centers. The Stacy family did not include its Shelby, N.C., garden center as part of the sale to Metrolina.

In June, Metrolina announced it was buying the assets of Stacy’s Greenhouses. The deal was finalized Aug. 30. Metrolina has been working to combine the two companies while maintaining Stacy’s workforce.

Wingerden said all Stacy’s employees – including the six or seven full-time employees at the garden center – were offered jobs at the wholesale operation in York.

Metrolina has a five-year plan to revitalize the wholesale plant operation, Wingerden said. The company will start by retaining employees and hiring additional workers, he said, then it will improve facilities and grow the business.

Linda Koon, who has been the manager of Stacy’s Garden Center since it opened in 1975, said customers – old and new – should come to the center for some great sales.

Live plants such as mums and pansies are still full price, but everything else is half price. Koon said they are clearing out storage areas, “finding things that we have forgotten.”

“Come in and touch base with us, see us one more time,” she said. “We have had such wonderful customers over the years.”

This story was originally published September 19, 2013 at 7:06 PM.