Williams Nursery announces permanent closure

On June 2 via Facebook, Williams Nursery, located in Westfield, New Jersey, announced plans to permanently close on July 3. The update garnered hundreds of reactions, comments and shares, with many customers expressing sadness and gratitude.

One customer wrote, “What a wonderful garden center. My mother shopped here, and I shopped here. Thank you for introducing me to Sungold cherry tomatoes! Williams Nursery was a lovely, quiet place to contemplate what to plant. Great help always was there when I needed it. It tugs at me to see you go, just like I miss Geiger’s and Stuernagels, two other wonderful Springfield Avenue institutions. I appreciate your oasis and wonderful quality of plants. Best of luck to you.”

Coupled with the announcement on June 2, Williams Nursery ran a 20% off storewide flash sale for houseplants (including the Pink Princess Philodendron, while supplies last), annuals, perennials, herbs, shrubs and more. Then, on June 10, owner Dave Williams announced an additional 10% sale due to customers’ “incredible responses” to the initial 20% off storewide sale. The IGC even had to restock, and as of June 21, all store merchandise is 30%, while supplies last.

Read the garden center’s full announcement below:

“Saying goodbye is never easy, and this is the most difficult one we’ve ever had to make. Williams Nursery will be sunsetting our business at the end of this month. Our last day will be July 3^rd. Closing a business that is 102 years old is a difficult thing. Looking back, we have so much gratitude for the seasons that we’ve been able to share with you. There have been countless wonderful customers that have passed through our doors. We are going to miss sharing the smiles, and chats. We know that some of you used our store as an oasis in a bump in your lives. We are grateful that we got to help smooth the edges of those bumps. We got to see the growth of many youths. Fall was a particularly fun season when we got to see the families for our Fall activities, games and hayrides. We helped hundreds of eagle scouts with projects with our plants. Over the years we had many opportunities to supply flowers and vegetable plants to many of the schools, clubs and organizations in many local towns. We even donated one of our greenhouses to Elizabeth, that now helps supply vegetable seedlings all over the county. A lot of memories get created when you plant something. Hopefully you can look at some of your plants, and think back to when you bought it and think of us. We’ve helped the county with their Arbor Day tree program for almost twenty years. Over 2,000 trees have been planted, some now are over thirty feet tall. It’s been a wonderful journey for our family for five generations, but unfortunately this chapter is going to close.

We’re grateful to the staff that have supported us through the years. Without their hard work and dedication, we could not have been able to become as successful as we’ve been. One member of our staff has been here for over fifty years. We’ve been lucky to see our staff grow personally as they’ve passed through our doors. Some have met at our store, married, and then their children have worked for us. Many of them have made strong friendships that will last well beyond Williams Nursery.

Plant quality was one of our highest priorities. We’ve worked with many growers over the years, and have been lucky to have found some of the best in North America. It’s been a joy to work with them. Their commitment to producing the best, comes from having an incredible team behind them. We will miss working with them.

The last several years in the business were the hardest, but also the most satisfying. In the beginning of Covid, we didn’t think we were even going to survive the season. We changed all of our computers to deal with curbside pickup, we didn’t even know if we were going to be allowed to stay open in May 2020 and thought that our operation would have ended up closing then. Covid lead to a new generation of houseplant enthusiasts and home gardeners. Plants became a coping mechanism for easing through the pandemic.

Starting immediately all merchandise will be 20% Off. This includes all plants, giftware, hard-goods, pottery, etc. This week we’ve received new shipments of houseplants, annuals, perennials. Keep following our social media to see additional sales. It’s important that you start looking through your drawers at home to look for those old gift certificates, so that you can use them before we close. All fixtures, including appliances and furniture from the residences will also be sold, with details available on those items soon.

Hopefully we will get a moment to share a goodbye. Thank you for being part of our journey,

The Williams & Jackson families.”