A family business
I am very lucky to have my kids helping run my business. They understand how important our obligation is to our customers , our suppliers and to the other employees. That has been one of the keys to continuing in business all these years.
The current competitive situation in Houston makes experienced, knowledgeable employees more valuable than ever. As most of you know, Houston has an abundance of nurseries and box stores that have no knowledgeable sales help. The fourth largest city in America has only a handful of garden centers, anymore, that provide nurserymen to help their customers. The businesses that sell the most plants and gardening supplies, in Houston, are the ones that know the least about what they are selling.
There are few, if any, qualified nursery people looking for work in retail nurseries. It has been a long time since I was able to hire someone fully knowledgeable about gardening. We have to hire the young and inexperienced and train our employees for quite a long time before they will be able to help customers.
There are things that I do worry about because we are a small family business. If there is a death in the family we would not have enough employees to provide proper service if we all attended a funeral. Our extended family has been notified that they are not allowed to die in the Spring. We are not always able to attend weddings anymore. Some family members can go but some would have to work. We are relieved when my nephew and nieces decide to shack up instead of getting married. I am not complaining. I get to see my children many times a week and my wife every night. I wouldn't trade that for anything.
LOL @ the Nephews and Nieces comment.
Have a great weekend!
~Jason
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Very nice blog. Thanks dad. love you
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We are all lucky to have the opportunity to do something we love and work with the ones we love the most. Love You dad, Thanks for everything!!!!
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I am the daughter of a garden center owner. I have been in this business all of my life. My anniversary is in May and goes uncelebrated every year. We are a family of spring birthdays. You know what that means. I feel the same as your daughter Sherri. In the end it is all worth it. I am very proud to be involved in something my parents created 29 years ago. Coming from nothing and working so hard all these years. They have lived the American Dream. They have taught us how to sacrifice and work hard for the things you want. So, all of our family knows if it happens in the spring, WE WON'T BE THERE! Summer, fall, and winter can also be iffy! It always depends on our HELP! Just a little note from another family owned garden center.
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