Green Acres Nursery & Supply, a California-based garden center retailer with over $100 million in annual sales, is expanding into Texas.
Established in 2003, Green Acres is currently the second-largest independent nursery in the United States.
It has just opened its first store in Irving and plans to open others across the Lone Star State over the next few years, per The Dallas Morning News.
A number of retailers have been moving to the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex lately.
Bass Pro Shops announced a few weeks ago that it was building a new 100,000-square-foot location in Grand Prairie, as The Dallas Express recently reported. It will be its fifth location in the region and 15th in Texas.
In late January, Nike USA Inc. leased a 1-million-square-foot warehouse in Wilmer to serve as a regional distribution center for online goods, benefiting from $68,000 in annual tax breaks from the Dallas County Commissioners Court, as previously covered in The Dallas Express.
The new Green Acres location features both indoor and outdoor space. Per the DMN, it has a 13,000-square-foot greenhouse designated for outdoor perennials and annuals, a 6,300-square-foot greenhouse for houseplants, and a 30,000-square-foot storefront offering outdoor furniture and decor alongside supplies, tools, and equipment for plant care.
Green Acres will add two more locations in 2024, followed by a fourth location in 2025. Sites have already been purchased in Southlake and Frisco, Ashley Rossi, co-owner of Green Acres, told the DMN. They are also interested in Melissa, although no final agreement has been reached yet.
This expansion might seem ambitious, considering Green Acres will be competing with established garden center retailers in DFW. This includes Calloway’s Nursery, which also had sales of more than $100 million in 2022, per the DMN, and big box retailers like Walmart or home improvement stores Home Depot and Lowe’s.
But Green Acres believes it has the edge over its competitors because it offers a more well-rounded customer experience.
Part of this experience comes from knowledgeable staff, as Rossi explained.
The Irving store currently employs around 100 individuals, including several who previously worked at Strong’s Nursery and Garden Center in Carrollton, the DMN reported. That establishment’s owners are retiring, making it an opportune time for skilled employees to join Green Acres.
Unlike big box retailers, “We’re not a seasonal business,” Rossi told the DMN. “We have the people and know-how to treat pests, winterize and prepare a garden for spring. We consider this a 365-days-a-year business.”
And Steve Gill, CEO of Green Acres in Texas, claims that Green Acres has better options at better prices than its competition.
“We have a higher quality and breadth of product and compete on pricing with the big box retailers and other independent nurseries,” Gill told the DMN.
“This is a dynamic market, and there’s nothing like Green Acres here now. We’re creating an experience that doesn’t exist here. We try to be the Bass Pro Shops or Buc-ee’s of garden centers,” he further said to the publication.
Through this approach, Green Acres hopes it can flourish in the DFW market.