All photos courtesy of Glover Nursery
Welcome to Garden Center magazine's Top 100 Week. We will be highlighting garden centers from our Top 100 Independent Garden Centers List between Sept. 9 and 13. These profiles are brought to you through the generous sponsorship of Proven Winners.
Visit Glover Nursery (#31 on the 2024 Top 100 Independent Garden Centers List) in Utah’s Salt Lake City metropolitan area, and you’re likely to see a reference to the Top 100 IGC’s standing as “Utah’s First Family Nursery.”
Now in its sixth generation of nursery operation, the Glover family lays claim to being the state’s first family-run nursery. But the emphasis on family extends beyond their kin to the families that seek out Glover Nursery year after year.
For fifth-generation siblings Chief Operating Officer Ryan Glover and his sister, Marketing Director Regan Glover, helping take the IGC forward for future generations of both their family and those in their community is a responsibility they relish.
Set apart by history and family
The Glover family’s Salt Lake Valley roots set their IGC apart from more recent entrants into the garden center and nursery business. Their ancestors brought horticulture with them from England when they came to Utah in the late 1800s. This Top 100 IGC’s first documented sales receipt is dated 1895, as Utah headed for statehood. The business license under which they still operate was first issued in 1911.
When the family’s third generation of nursery operators grew tired and closed the business, Ryan and Regan’s father, Rod, and his brother Bryce stepped in. The pair — who started working in their grandfather’s nursery as children — asked for the license, relocated to their present site and started the horticultural business up again.
Ryan explains that he feels like second generation in addition to fifth. “Our dad is the big driving force to where we're at right now, because he basically reopened the nursery when he started it back up,” Ryan says. “So we are fifth generation, but if it wasn't for him, there wasn't a nursery.”
Today, three generations of the family work at the business, from Rod and Bryce (co-owners affectionately known as the “one-two punch”) down to members of Generation Six. Ryan shares, with a grin, that his daughter will start at the IGC next spring — she’s currently 3 years old.
Having the family name on the nursery comes with added pressure — from the family and the community. “It puts a different pressure on you when you put your name on your nursery,” Ryan says. “There are lots of nurseries you don’t know who the owners are. But when you put your name on it, the family expects you to keep it to a certain level. With any business with a family name, there’s a different expectation.”
Regan adds, “If you have the last name Glover, people assume you’re associated with the nursery— and you probably are. I think that sort of encapsulates that whole dynamic of we have been here since Utah was officially declared a state, and there are lots of us that are associated with this.”
Centered on plants and service
For many IGCs — Top 100 and otherwise — add-ons such as gifts and clothing are second nature. But you won’t find those items at Glover. Though the company operates a wholesale division that caters to landscapers, retail makes up 75% of the business — and more than 80% of the business comes from plants.
“That seems to surprise a lot of people,” Regan says. “The majority of our businesses is actual plant material, which doesn't seem to be common in a lot of IGCs.” They do some classes, all free, to educate their customers. Otherwise, there are no events.
Ryan shares, “We do sell pesticides and fertilizers. We do dabble in pottery and houseplants.” He notes they simply don’t have room to do houseplants well, so they’ve never been big sellers. And, he adds, it seems like pottery is always on sale everywhere else. Bulk products such as soil, bark and stone sell well.
While Glover grows some stock, the vast majority is bought in. Known for its inventory levels and knowledgeable staff, the Top 100 IGC’s 10 acres are packed full. Ryan explains that wholesale and retail customers each need a different experience when they come.
“Having inventory levels where we can sell to landscapers but still get through a busy weekend and have plenty of product for the retail customers to buy on Saturday and not have to tell them they have to wait is a big thing,” he says. “Obviously, you always want to sell something for more money, so retail always comes first.”
With so much inventory coming from outside, scouting for pests is part of everyone’s job, not just their IPM manager. “This year, we instituted the use of beneficials, which has gone well for the first year, and it’s only going to get better, so we're excited about that,” Ryan says.
One of the biggest changes seen at Glover is the growth of native and low-water plants. What used to be restricted to fringe gardeners now draws everyday homeowners who want nice yards but lack the time and energy to maintain them.
“That trend for us has been the low-water because of our environment, but also a lot of those plants are very easy to grow, so they're successful,” Ryan explains. “But then at the same time, we bring in varieties that make more avid gardeners really excited to come and see hard-to-find varieties and things like that.”
Despite Utah’s persistent ranking as one of the country’s driest states, Regan shares it also has some of the highest water use for homes and green lawns. However, younger generations are becoming more aware of conservation and custodianship of land and water, and the impact of that growing awareness is reflected in the plants Glover offers.
Built on consistency and trust
In Ryan’s eyes, the No. 1 key to Glover’s success is consistency — not just in top-quality plant material, but also its interactions with people. “I think we just tried to have consistency, to where there’s an expectation in everybody’s mind — employees and customers and vendors —when they deal with us, they know what they can get every time,” he says. Having that kind of trust, in you and your word, is essential.
“One thing unique in the horticulture industry is that you're selling an idea, a future, rather than the actual product they’re buying at the time,” Ryan adds. “When they’re buying this plant, we're telling them, ‘It's going do this and do this and do this sometime in the future. Trust us.’ In the horticulture industry, I always tell people our biggest thing is helping people make decisions and really selling the future.”
Regan reiterates that trust in Glover’s integrity applies internally with team members and externally with customers in the community.
“We're here to be a part of the community and make sure they have the information they need and the resources they need to succeed,” she says. “When you love gardening, and you're successful, it's an addiction, right? So our long-term success comes from really supporting people in a way that I think a lot of businesses don't always think about — and seeking a better team.”
To that end, Glover strives to hire exceptional team members and create an environment where they feel appreciated and empowered. During the season, the IGC typically maxes out around 90 to 100 employees. In the off-season, that drops to 15 to 20.
“We offer quality in every possible way,” Regan emphasizes. “We get quality products, and we have quality people, so there's a lot of knowledge and expertise that are a foundation for success. I don't like to say, ‘Oh, we’re a family,’ but we do really honor our people in a way that we're aware of their humanity. I worked in Wall Street for a long time. So for me, that's such a nice thing to be a part of, where people actually care about you. I think that’s reflected in how our business runs.”
Flexible and forward-thinking
Ryan believes flexibility is a key strength enabling Glover’s success. In three, five or 10 years, he says, the nursery won’t look anything like it does today. “The reason we stay successful, in the Top 100 or whatever, is not because the nursery is going to stay like this forever. You need to change and move. You don’t know what that’s going to be, so you have to be flexible,” he says.
Looking forward, he says a “pretty major facilities upgrade” is probably in store for structures, retail checkout and bathrooms. “We're still kind of operating on limited public spaces,” he says.
“Then I think just refining the product mix for the future and kind of seeing what direction that can go," he adds. While they do exercise some influence, he feels it’s more about reacting as consumers change.
“There's so much information out there that customers gather before they come in here that you kind of have to just work with that. People are a lot more well-versed shoppers than they used to be,” he says. “When I did sales when I was younger, they would ask you everything. Now they come in, and they've already Googled it and have it pulled up on the phone, and they want to ask you to see if you know what Google said. It’s a different shopping experience, so adjusting to that is important.”
Improving Glover’s online experience is a priority for Regan, so when those customers come in, they’ve already seen Glover’s answers in those Google results.
“I really want to focus on having our online presence be really powerful and strong, which it is. But there's so much room for improvement,” she shares. “We’re a large nursery, but we're still kind of a small business, and so how do we invest in the tech side and the online piece to really be a powerhouse for our customers?”
For IGCs looking for actionable insights, Ryan offers this advice: “Just observe your operation objectively. Try to remove your emotion from it. Know what's good. Know what's bad and don't be offended — just fix it. Listen to employees. Just tweak and improve each part of your business you can, both internally and customer-facing.”
He notes that, while COVID resulted in a massive boost in sales for nursery businesses and the horticulture industry, it also forced other beneficial changes. “It also put so much pressure on us as a business that it forced us to change and improve. I think that was the long-term benefit as much as the money. It just made you get better, to handle that flow and that amount of business and change things.”
That attitude of flexibility can help businesses continue to change and improve, Ryans says: “Just try it, and if it doesn't work, see if you can stick with it and make it work. If not, OK, move on. Don’t get an emotional reaction to it. Just move on.”
Jolene Hansen is a freelance writer specializing in the horticulture, CEA and specialty ag industries. Contact her at jolene@jolenehansen.com.
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