 Lesley Hill (second from left) and her team.Lesley Hill, owner of Paradise Plants Home & Garden Center in Hilo, Hawaii, will tell you retailing on the Big Island is a different world. “There is no typical customer,” Hill said. “We have people from all walks of life you can imagine—from old-time Hilo people to the young couples coming in who are doing landscaping for the first time.” To cater to this mixed demographic, Hill has diversified her offerings. In addition to plants, Paradise Plants Home & Garden Center sells furniture, home décor, CDs and more. “We sell the Putumayo World Music line,” Hill said. “Their motto is, ‘It’s guaranteed to make you feel good.’ We play it all the time in the store. It has a great beat to it, and ties the whole ambience of the store together. “We’ve also brought in lamps and artwork to complement the furniture we carry. And, along with that, vases, indoor/outdoor carpets, handmade bed quilts and other items.” GARDEN CENTER: What’s the biggest challenge for gardeners in your area? LESLEY HILL: Our biggest challenge is invasive insects and other pests—like coqui frog and fire ants. You can only imagine the voraciousness of insects here. And there is no time when they get killed off by cold weather—so we get no break there. We’ve moved toward carrying all organic insecticides/pesticides. There are so many options in that area now. And, as an added plus, the store no longer smells like chemicals! GC: Do you have a particularly busy time of the year at your store? LH: Our busiest time of year is Christmas. We bring in trees from Washington State. We’ve been doing that for around 25 years—so I have many repeat customers. It has become a tradition now. Another busy time is February when bare-root fruit trees come in. And it will stay steady into Mother’s Day. GC: What are your most popular green goods? LH: What we sell the most of are vegetable seedlings, landscape plants and fruit trees. The fruit trees are really big here. Every February we bring in bare-root apples, pears, persimmons and other items from L.E. Cooke Co. We have a waiting list like you wouldn’t believe! These trees are really outstanding—some are 5- to 6-feet tall. We also have a lot of people moving here, who are starting their landscapes from scratch. What most people need are windbreaks and privacy hedges like Podocarpus and mock orange. And, of course, color is always popular—hibiscus, bougainvillea—things like that. We grow our own 4-inch color at our off-site farm. Blue salvia, portulaca, petunias and vinca have all been popular. GC: Can you tell us more about your ‘certified plant’ offerings? LH: We offer it as a service to our customers. The certification is a process you go through to make sure plants are free from burrowing nematodes and other possible invasives. We have a great assortment of blooming orchid plants, which we ship for a great rate via FedEx. At Christmas, we’ll have customers just send in their list of 25 people—and all of them get a blooming orchid in a box from Hawaii. Who wouldn’t think that’s fabulous? GC: Can you describe some of your ‘personal favorite’ plants? LH: Fruit trees are definitely among my favorites—like rambutan, mangosteen and longan. I was part of the group that was instrumental in bringing in exotic tropical fruit, and I grow many of them commercially on our farm. When I’m here in the store, I can give customers advice on these trees based on my own experience. GC: How did you get into the furniture business? LH: I was retailing out of this huge, old building with so much space…and then this woman started bringing me carved things from Bali to display and sell. That evolved into a few air-cargo shipments of furniture—and then to full container loads. We had to diversify. As the big-box retailers came into the area, we couldn’t just sell plants! Now we bring this beautiful, high-quality furniture direct from the factories into the store. We call it ‘furniture for life,’ because it’s all-wood furnishings—not pressed particle-board. In our area, low-quality furniture like that just swells up, warps and decomposes. The latest offerings coming in are made from tropical salvage-wood. These old logs are pulled out of the river, kiln dried and used to make furniture. Beautiful! |
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