November 2015 Big Grower

COVER STORY — Limitless Potential By Jasmina Dolce

Trail Nurseries is not your typical “big” grower. With approximately 5 acres of growing space today, this greenhouse operation had less than an acre when owners Mark Miller and his sisterin- law Kathy Miller purchased it in 2006. And the operation has grown É rapidly. Trail Nurseries, located in Dover, Pennsylvania, has more than quadrupled in size over the past nine years, and the expansions continue with a brand-new 40,000-square-foot structure (pictured above) that will be ready later this year.

The rapid growth certainly had its hiccups, but the company owes its continued success to the partnership of its three operators: Kathy, Mark and Scott Miller (Kathy’s husband), along with their willingness to go to the “next level” for their independent garden center customers.

So how does a less-than-1-acre Mom-and-Pop operation catapult into a modern greenhouse operation that can compete with the big boys? Here’s how.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

Trail Nurseries was a 46-year-old second-generation family business when the Millers acquired it. According to Mark, the third generation did not want to follow in the previous generations’ steps. And so they put the business up for sale.

Between Kathy’s experience in horticulture and Scott’s landscape background, paired with Mark’s business credentials, the Millers were the perfect team to take over and revamp the greenhouse operation.

Mark had spent half his life in forestry, and his last seven years in the industry were in management. “I worked very closely with an attorney and an accountant, and that’s how I learned business,” he says. “So that’s what I bring to the table, the business management side of things.”

At the time, Kathy was working as production manager at Lucas Greenhouses in Monroeville, New Jersey, and Scott was working at Longwood Gardens, in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. They had previously met at Penn State where Kathy earned a degree in horticulture and Scott earned a degree in landscape contracting.

After graduating from Penn State, Kathy eventually became assistant grower at Bell Nursery. She worked there for five years, working her way up to head grower. From there, she worked as head grower for Blue Mount Nursery, and then finally Lucas Greenhouses.

“I am so fortunate to have that part of my background,” Kathy says. “I kind of always knew in the back of my mind I would want to have my own place, and I told George (Lucas) I would give him at least three years. It happened to work out, and George and I have a great relationship.”

Today, the Miller team brings each of their own unique specialties to the table. Kathy oversees growing and production. Mark works with financial matters and bookkeeping. And Scott is in charge of logistics and maintenance.

“It’s what has made Trail Nurseries successful,” shares Mark. “The three of us have these different skill sets.”

While they each have their own responsibilities, it truly is a team effort. “We’re all kind of diverse,” Kathy says. “We help each other out, and we do whatever it takes.”

RAPID EXPANSION

It is certainly no small feat to take an existing small operation and convert it into a large, modern growing facility — one that will eventually have multiple locations.

“It was under an acre when we acquired it in 2006,” Mark says. “That same year, we set up about 10,000 square feet. In 2007, we set up another 15,000 square feet.”

In 2009, opportunities for even more growth presented themselves when another local grower approached the Millers. “He wanted to grow some product for us,” Mark says. “And the following year, he asked us to contract grow the whole acre.”

Two years later in 2011, they purchased that entire satellite location, located in Wellsville, Pennsylvania, which is just 10 miles down the road from Dover. The following year, they added more greenhouses at the Wellsville location.

“In 2013, we had another contract grower grow product for us, which was about a quarter acre at the time,” Mark says.

“And now we’re using over an acre of that contract location,” adds Kathy.

Between 2012 and present day, the Millers have been planning and setting up what may be their biggest expansion to date.

Their latest addition, a 40,000-square-foot Westbrook structure is up and almost ready. “I hope to be in here by the end of December,” Kathy says.

In an area where they used to only have space for 2,400 hanging baskets, they will now be able to accommodate 12,000 hanging baskets.

“We have really good demand for our product,” Kathy says. “We knew we had to grow and expand in order to try to take a Mom-and-Pop operation and convert it to survive.”

Structures aren’t the only expansion at Trail Nurseries. Where they once grew the bread-and-butter annual bedding plants, they are now also growing potted material, vegetables and herbs, containers and hanging baskets.

Trail Nurseries also added a pre-finished program to its lineup, which now accounts for about 15 percent of their business.

“Another grower had this pre-finished program, but he was unfortunately going out of business,” Kathy says. “We looked at it, and it fit right in with what we were doing. We’ve grown the program and added on since then.”

Trail Nurseries has also seen a lot of success with its Regal geranium propagation. They are now going into their fourth season, and the demand is strong.

The Millers were approached by a salesperson who was looking for a grower to trial the program. “I’m always up for a challenge,” shares Kathy. “We did it, and we did very well with it. And now, it’s almost 10 times more than we did that first year.”

POINTS OF DIFFERENTIATION

Expanding was half the battle, but remaining successful can be tough, especially in an area with vast and tough competition.

“We have very good competition in this area,” shares Kathy. “There are a lot of good, efficient growers.”

She says Trail Nurseries differentiates itself with the presentation of product. They take packaging to the next level with interesting containers and tags, using items that set them apart.

“We try to use nice, different, high-end containers,” Kathy says. “And we have all different sizes. A customer can buy six or seven different-sized containers with different price ranges.”

Trail Nurseries’ container program also focuses on themes. “We do sun and shade, butterfly, hummingbird,” Mark says. “In June, we have a white theme for brides.”

“We have containers for fall, and cool-season containers for early spring,” adds Kathy.

Their goal is to give retailers a finished product that does not need anything else added on — a container that is ready to be sold.

“And we always try to put some kind of unique or different plant in,” Kathy says. “I love when I get those calls, ‘There’s something in one of your containers, and nobody knows what it is.'”

Experimenting with new varieties in containers has helped Trail Nurseries drive their flats business. Customers end up wanting to purchase flats of the new varieties.

“We haven’t been able to supply enough of that,” Kathy shares. “We have to make sure they have all the plant material to feed the container monster. But as we get bigger, that’s our goal, to have more of those unique plants to sell.”

Customer service is another important point of differentiation for Trail Nurseries. Kathy is typically the main point of contact with customers, who consist of independent garden centers throughout Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and northern Virginia.

“I know all of our customers,” Kathy says. “They have my cell phone number. And we’re always willing to try different things for them.”

Trail Nurseries does a really good job of catering to each customer’s specific preferences. “We have one customer, for instance, who doesn’t like ranunculus in their spring containers,” Kathy says. “So we build their containers separate, and I don’t even have to write that down. It’s a personal touch.”

Kathy says she makes a point to follow up with each customer after an order is delivered. “Even though I know everything is probably fine, I just want to ask, ‘What do you need more from us? What combos do you like? How was the driver?'”

It’s that personal, hands-on relationship that Trail Nurseries’ customers have grown to appreciate and keeps them coming back.

FROM ADVERSITY COMES OPPORTUNITY

Early in the morning of Dec. 4, 2011, Mark Miller received a phone call from his brother Scott that there was a fire at Trail Nurseries. He got in his car and followed a fire truck to the facility.

Firefighters were able to put out the fire later that morning, and while most of the greenhouses were still left intact, severe damage was done.

Not to mention, this was in the height of poinsettia season. “By midmorning, we had probably 50 volunteers, friends, family and employees helping us move the entire poinsettia crop to our Wellsville location,” says Mark.

And just two days later, they were shipping out poinsettias to their customers.

Not many growers would be able to recover, and recover so quickly.

“Our production facility was a total loss,” shares Mark. “Along with potting equipment, tag inventory, soil inventory, our irrigation system, a boiler heater. It was a large majority of the most important pieces of the greenhouse operation.”

It took six weeks to fully recover, but Mark calls the fire a blessing in disguise.

“It forced us to make improvements,” he says. “The fire forced us to make decisions that we knew we had to make.”