Relatively speaking

Statistically speaking, Mom and Pop are Queen and King of the garden center world. Upwards of 80 percent of the roughly 16,000 independent-retail operations serving green and hard goods in this country do so from single-store locations. And, as often as not, at least two members of a family hold positions on a garden center’s organization chart.

Indeed, if there’s an industry defining “the family business,” it’s the one that makes sure customers find hardy plants and “all the rage” decorative accessories to complete the ultimate house/home conversion process. Go to virtually any garden center “About Us” page on the internet, and you’ll see words like these:

“A third-generation operation, our garden center has served the area for 62 years …”

“(Fill in the blank) started the store in 1968, and now his daughter (Fill in the blank) calls the shots ...”

“While (Patriarch) operates the growing end of the business, (Offspring) is in charge of the gift shop ...”

As many of you know from experience, the family business can be equal parts rewarding and challenging … and exhilarating and frustrating … and fulfilling and confounding … and, well, you get the gist.

Another thing it appears to be, based on a pair of case studies conducted for this month’s cover story, is a work that is constantly in progress. Or at least it is when the principals pull together to make it so.
 

Harvey’s Farm
Westborough, Mass.
www.harveysfarm.com

• The particulars: The sixth generation farm has approximately 50 acres of open fields, rolling hills, cropland and orchards. The sweet fruits and hearty vegetables are grown at the farm in deep sandy loam left by the last ice age. Emily’s Gift Barn, the retail part of the operation, features a variety of unique items for the lawn and garden—plus, there are model trains that run around the gift barn and barnyard critters galore outside that can be fed from Luta’s covered bridge with the company’s specially formulated food available in the gift barn.
   
• Worth noting: Through the years, Harvey’s Farm has overcome fire, flood and a devastating tornado. The business has been featured on local television and on the front page of The Boston Globe and has received numerous first place trophies and ribbons for quality produce. During the growing season, Harvey’s Farm produces fresh, organically grown produce for customers and for local restaurants —in fact, it works directly with executive chefs to grow unique crops that add flair to their fare.
   
• The family dynamic: Father Jim Harvey owns the business and oversees the growing operation. His daughter Emily manages the Gift Barn named after her.
  
   

Like father, like daughter.
Jim and Emily Harvey comprise the father-daughter team leading Harvey’s Farm in Westborough, Mass., but Emily is the first to point to her dad as the visionary who saw retail potential for the company. “As many things in business, it was an evolutionary process, one that was driven by my father’s motivation,” Emily said. “It had been a working dairy farm up until my dad’s 20s or so, and then the barn stood vacant for awhile after my great grandfather Emory’s passing.”

In the 1980s, Jim completely renovated that barn, which had long before catered to dairy farming, and converted it into a retail space. Then gradually he added additional buildings to make the Gift Barn what it is today. “I think as the businesses of growing produce, landscape work, etc., evolved, it only made sense to embrace a beautifully renovated barn in creating a retail-ready space,” Emily said.

Emily was appointed head of the retail end of the business five years ago, and the latest incarnation of the family business was complete. The younger Harvey said the two have always been close, making the business relationship a relative breeze. Plus, the fact that an informal family business structure was already in place when she came on board made the transition virtually seamless.

“There have been many meetings over the years between family members,” she said. “There were meetings between my grandparents and father regarding the usage of the land. He is one of four siblings, and the only one that has continued the farm operation, so as far as the land is concerned, it’s discussed on a generational basis.”

As far as meetings between Jim and Emily, the latter said they regularly hold informal get togethers to discuss the future of the business and to train her to someday be an owner of the company. “It’s pretty self-explanatory these days,” she said. “Dad’s the owner and final decision maker. I contribute my thoughts towards various aspects of the business to be reviewed by Dad. There’s a lot of compromise involved—what relationship, business or personal isn’t filled with compromise?”
 

Three things the Harveys do to make a family business work:

1. Begin the day with a hug.
   “It’s ironic that the days we’ve just started off running, skipped the hug, we get very crabby towards one another,” Emily said.
    
2. Talk “shop” on a daily basis.
   “We talk about various issues/operations of the company,” she said. “And we make sure we do this every day during the busy season.”
    
3. Use winter to think globally.
   “We find it’s very beneficial to meet during the winter months when we’re closed to the public because we’re able to switch our focus from the customer service to looking at the larger picture,” Emily said.
    

Three things the Harveys don’t do to make a family business work:

1. Let stress win.
   “It can become stressful because you spend so much time with each other,” Emily said. “We make a point to talk through whatever challenges we’re having and come back to square one.”
    
2. Forget who’s who.
   “Sometimes it’s difficult to separate relationships for us between father-daughter /boss-employee,” she said. The key is remembering business roles during business time and family roles once you’ve clocked out.
    
3. Forget to have fun.
   “That’s self-explanatory,” Emily said.

THE GARDEN BARN
Vernon, Conn.
www.gardenbarn.com

• The particulars: The 13-acre facility is growing, both literally and figuratively. Despite a recent roof collapse on the greenhouse structure, The Garden Barn has become a regional “hot spot” for unusual plant material. The nursery lends to that distinction, too, especially since the October 2010 addition of an 11,000 square-foot open air pavilion that makes shopping in the New England weather a more enjoyable experience. The garden center features an array of displays, plus popular gift items inspired by the company mantra: “Remember: it’s not work, it’s therapy!”
   
• Worth noting: The Garden Barn has seen its share of change—and will see some more. There was the roof collapse mentioned earlier, which should be mended this winter. Plus, the business received permits for a new growing facility, construction of which will begin later this year. The range will cover three quarters of an acre and will be used to grow plant material to be sold at the retail facility.
   
• The family dynamic: Dennis and Kathy Gliha own The Garden Barn, and children Shawn and Kim recently took on administrative roles that have them making day-to-day decisions in the plant yard and in the retail center.

Teamwork does work.
When Kim Gliha was approached a couple of years ago about becoming a principal at her parent’s business, The Garden Barn, she didn’t exactly embrace the notion. “Honestly, I had my fears, because I was afraid of how the ‘changing of the guard’ would take place,” Kim said. “I wasn’t sure if my parents would be willing to pass the torch the way they have. I have been very blessed since I graduated college in 2008 and came back to work at the store full time. Almost immediately following my return, they gave me immediate responsibility and watched me grow. I know that not every family business works in this manner, but I really enjoy it.”

Kim and Shawn essentially run the company now, at least from a hands-on standpoint – with mom and dad representing, as Kim said, “the voice from the office.” Her brother oversees the outside sales area, managing everything that goes with it, while Kim heads the indoor sales area and all that goes with that.

Despite Kim’s early fears, she has found her parents/supervisors to be remarkably supportive of new ideas she and Shawn have brought to the company. “My parents truly listen and value the opinions of my brother and me—on anything and everything that goes on in day-to-day operations of the store, and beyond,” she said. “They have listened to me voice my concerns on so many issues that I felt our company had—from employees, dying departments, pricing structures, store layouts, etc. We as a family have changed and improved in the past two to three years because my parents listened and executed our [her’s and Shawn’s] ideas.”

As at Harvey’s Farm, the corporate structure is casually constructed at The Garden Barn. “We have never formally sat down and discussed what each of us is responsible for,” Kim said. “It has slowly over time just become understood. We work very well as a family, and it all gets done in one way or another. In due time Shawn and I will definitely have to sit and discuss our own roles as our parents phase themselves out. For most companies determined roles would probably be in their best interest, but we work just as well without them.”

Not that there haven’t been “family moments.” Kim said the Gliha crew “definitely has had our share of bad days, a screaming match here and there, and we may go a few days playing the silence game.” But at the end of the day, she said, they still love each other—“more than most families probably do.”
 

Three things the Glihas do to make a family business work:

1. Adapt roles to strengths.
   “Over time Shawn and I seem to have split what my father used to be solely responsible for,” Kim said. “My mother is now managing the office (which is something she has always done, but as we’ve grown it has become more and more of a full-time position). My father basically keeps his eye on Shawn and me and makes sure that we don’t miss anything along the way.”
    
2. Communicate—and then communicate some more.
   “We talk as a family in great detail as to what we feel is most important for the business, where it is going to happen next, and where the company has been,” Kim said. “We are always on the same page on the major decisions of the business. We have meetings to determine each of our priorities and how they will be executed.”
    
3. Put things in perspective.
   “I hear my friends talk about how miserable they are at their 8- or 9-to-5 office jobs,” Kim said, “and it just doesn’t compare to the feeling I get coming to work with my family and the family we have created here at The Garden Barn.”
    

Three things the Glihas don’t do to make a family business work:

1. Ignore the “other” customer, the internal one.
   “We have countless employees that return to us year after year (even with the seasonality of our business),” Kim said. “We have in turn created a Garden Barn family, as well as our regular family.”
    
2. Let egos rule.
   “Trying to agree on priorities or long term goals/projects can get tricky at times,” Kim said. “I love working with people that I love, but keeping work and personal issues separate can be difficult. I don’t think it is something that can ever entirely be mastered, but it gets better with time.”
    
3. Stop reaching for new goals.
   “With the changing of the times we have had to evolve with new technologies such as our POS system,” Kim said. “We now have a better handle on pricing to meet profit goals, inventory control, and when and how to buy based on actual history rather than a gut feeling. We are also putting more money into our website, TV, Facebook, and Twitter—which is much different than print like my parents used to do. We acknowledge that with the changing of the times everything that my generation does is about efficiency and having things at their fingertips. You have to be willing to change, I believe, to be successful.”