A family affair

The family behind this rich garden-retail tradition: Standing Jim Glick and Kerry Lapp; sitting: Kathy Trout and Kendra Finn. When Ken’s Gardens partner/owners Jim Glick and Kathy Trout say family matters at their Pennsylvania stores, they draw upon a rich history to support this strongly held conviction.

The long – and sometimes winding – road that led to the establishment of the business’ two current stores in Smoketown and Intercourse, Pa., was first cleared by the historical patriarch of the company, Isaac Glick. The Smoketown location was originally Glick’s Plant Farms, started by Trout’s great-grandfather Isaac in 1905.

Eventually, ownership was transferred to Isaac’s son (Trout’s grandfather), Jacob Glick, who built a retail/wholesale/mail-order business that flourished over the course of many decades. Jacob closed his retail operation at Glick’s Plant Farms in 1975, but the family continued selling to Smoketown citizens as “Ken’s Gardens”.

The Intercourse location started when Trout’s grandmother, Lydia Lapp, began growing pansies and perennials in the fields surrounding her home during the 1950s. She would sell her plants at a farmers’ market in Delaware County, Pa. After the farmers’ market burned down in 1973, the family decided it was time to transform the hobby into a business.

Two Locations, One Family
The third generation of Lapps assumed ownership at the Intercourse and Smoketown locations in January 2004 when Ken Lapp and Norman Glick (who are brothers-in-law) passed the business on to their children. Lapp’s children, Kerry Lapp (president) and Kendra Finn (secretary), share ownership with Glick’s children, Jim (vice president) and Trout (treasurer). Glick’s children run the Smoketown garden center, and the Lapp children run the Intercourse location. They work as a board when it comes to major business decisions for the organization.

Trout said every family member from each generation has worked in the business. “Some didn’t enjoy it and left. Some stayed,” she said. “It’s not just a job; it’s a hobby – a way of life. It is, however, a trade that requires working a lot. In the spring, that means working from sun up to sun down. Having our families involved, including our kids, means that during our long working days, we still get to spend time with our families.”

Almost all the family members have had one thing in common – a passion for gardening – which led to the company’s mission: Growing plants and helping customers to be successful with their gardens.
“We are committed to being a grower/retailer and using strengths that come from growing our own stock to set ourselves apart from our competitors,” Glick said. “This presents a unique challenge because to be successful, we have to master both growing and retailing. But if it’s done right, it is also a unique strength.”

Trout said the family ties extend beyond the Ken’s Gardens boardroom. “Our new tag line is ‘Welcome to Your Garden,’” she said. “We want to promote gardening as a way to create ‘cherished family memories.’”

Tourism Matters
As at many businesses, challenges have been a part of the historical record at Ken’s Gardens. The current recession took its first bite of the company’s sales when gas prices exploded during the summer of 2008.

Glick explains: “We are located in the middle of an area with a large tourist trade, but never thought of ourselves as a tourist business. That all changed in 2008 when fuel prices skyrocketed in May and kept going up throughout the summer and fall.”

Roads, usually jammed with traffic, were virtually empty. Local hotels and businesses were hit hard. “To our surprise, it hurt us also, and it hurt a lot,” Trout said. “But it made us realize that there was an entire market segment out there with huge potential that we had been ignoring. In 2010, we are focusing heavily on out-of-state customers with our marketing and opening a satellite location right in the middle of a local tourist attraction.”
That new retail store, Ken’s Gardens at Kitchen Kettle Village, maintains Ken’s Gardens flavor while being tailored to the tourist trade that comes to Lancaster County each summer.


Wendy Komancheck is a freelancer based in Ephrata, Pa. Contact her at wendykomancheck@gmail.com.