All photos courtesy of Sawyer Home and Garden Center
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Sawyer, Michigan, rests on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, an hour car trip directly east of Chicago. Windy City denizens have come here for years to enjoy quiet weekends, escape the hustle and bustle of the big city and absorb the region’s natural wonders.
But this sleepy little destination town — population of about 2,100 — wouldn’t have the same unique charm without Sawyer Home & Garden Center, #50 on the 2024 Top 100 Independent Garden Centers List.
Founded in 1986 by Barry and Linda Patejdl, Sawyer Home & Garden Center is a beloved community institution. With decades of experience in the gardening and retail industries, the Patejdls and their dedicated team have transformed a once small garden center into a thriving hub for everything from horticulture essentials to gourmet food and unique gifts.
The family-owned garden center is the destination for visitors and an essential stop at the start of a getaway weekend. And the operation prides itself on the fact that it’s open 364 days a year — closed only on Christmas Day.
Sawyer’s location in Michigan’s “fruit belt” gives it unprecedented access to a cornucopia of fresh local produce, such as blueberries, sweet corn and cherries.
“We maintain great relationships with local farmers from all over Michigan,” says Meagen O’Bryant, a granddaughter of the Patejdls who oversees marketing and public relations at Sawyer. “Through these partnerships, we have access to the best quality [produce] we could possibly find. And we love supporting ‘local’ producers. And that is one of the biggest things our customers want — access to not only the best selection but from local growers.”
In addition, the retail garden center boasts Southwest Michigan’s largest nursery department. It sources its plant stock from top growers nationwide, including renowned brands like Monrovia. This extensive selection caters to homeowners and professional landscape contractors seeking unique and high-quality ornamentals, vibrant perennials and even rare plant varieties.
“We have an amazing selection of perennials, and we always make sure they're in bloom when they come in because color sells,” O’Bryant says. “And we always try to make sure we’re receiving fresh loads [of plant materials] for customers.”
A changing community
This year, brother and sister Tom and Jen McReynolds assumed ownership over the family business as part of the family’s succession strategy. Today, Jen oversees the retail operations, while John’s responsibility is to manage Sawyer’s nursery department.
“My brother and I have been here for so long, it just seemed like a natural transition,” says co-owner Jen McReynolds. “[Our parents] wanted to retire, but you never really leave a family business, do you? So, not much has changed.”
However, change is afoot. Recent demographic and economic trends have forced Sawyer to reassess its approach to sustaining profitability while staying current and relevant with a fluid clientele. Much of the retail garden center’s efforts have focused on building margins and fine-tuning its retail operation.
Historically, the Sawyer community has hosted people’s homes away from home. But in recent years, those families — who were regular, consistent customers for decades — have transitioned to the next generation of owners. This new generation isn’t as destination-focused and has transitioned many of those residential properties into weekend and short-term rentals managed by online leasing platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo.
“Recently, there have been a lot of new faces instead of repeat faces,” Jen says.
This shift has presented a business challenge for the retail garden center because these new visitors are unfamiliar with the community and often lack the same loyalty as the previous generation. As a result, Sawyer has refocused on leveraging its stellar retail reputation in the community and cultivating word-of-mouth business, and it has done this in concert with other local retailers.
“We try to market each other’s business throughout the whole region,” Jen says. “So, when they go to a restaurant and want to know what else to do [while staying in Sawyer], they’ll name us as the garden center they must check out because of all our unique items and that we offer something for everyone.”
'Pile it high and watch it fly'
To market its products and services more effectively, Sawyer has adopted an active social media presence to tap into this new, more web-savvy client base. The retail garden center has also pivoted its sales strategy to adjust to recent economic challenges. For example, customers no longer seem to gravitate to big-ticket items as they did in past years. As a result, the retail operation has had to shift what it stocks on its shelves, Jen says.
“We’ve brought in a lot of things people could buy that weren’t very expensive,” she says of recent buying trends. “You need to keep the store fresh. Believe it or not, there are a lot of cool things that we didn’t get this year because of the price points, which pushes the retail to another level. So, we’ve focused on making smarter buying decisions.”
The popular mantra at Sawyer is to “pile it high and watch it fly,” and it’s a long-held business philosophy that has proven successful over the years.
“You make the customer think that they want to buy it,” Jen explains. “And the more of [an item] that you have, the more the customer believes that they must need this [item]. So, instead of having a dozen of a particular item, you have three dozen and give [customers] the impression that it’s in high demand.
“People buy on impulse,” she adds. “So, you have bigger blocks of plants … Say a table full of pink coneflower. [A customer] walks past it, sees all that color and that it’s beautiful and grabs it. They don’t care what it is; they just know they must have it.”
The retail garden center’s recent sales and marketing strategy has allowed it to counter and adjust to many of the recent demographic and economic challenges. However, Sawyer’s unique company culture has played a significant role in its ongoing business strategy and subsequent success.
The operation employs nearly 60 full-time workers, and each team member is critical to Sawyer’s success. Staff members maintain a strong sense of loyalty and respect. As a result, turnover has historically been very low, with many Sawyer employees having tenures of 10-plus years with the operation.
“This is a family business, and the focus has always been on family,” says O’Bryant, who’s worked for the family business in various capacities for 17 years. “We don’t tolerate anything that’s inappropriate. My grandmother [Linda] wouldn’t allow swearing in the office! So, it is definitely a family-oriented environment here, and we pride ourselves on that. It’s a good place to be.”
These sentiments are mirrored by many of the garden center’s employees.
“I would definitely count the people who work here and the culture here as some of Sawyer’s greatest strengths,” says office manager Laura Tetzlaff, who’s been with the company for five years.
Another characteristic of Sawyer’s unique corporate culture is the unwavering commitment to customer service, Tetzlaff adds.
“Without a doubt, a sense of customer service — from the quality of products we offer to the time spent interacting with people — is a very important component to the Sawyer culture,” she says. “And we really reinforce that with [new employees] from day one.
“And we hope our customers feel that way when they’re here and see it in the quality of products we offer,” she adds. “Our customers are the whole reason we’re here.”
Mike Zawacki is a Cleveland-based writer who has covered various aspects of the landscape and horticulture industries for 20 years.
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