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Gardens Alive Inc. acquired the bankrupt Gardener’s Supply for $9 million, retaining all current employees.Gardener’s Supply’s five retail locations will remain open, but its seasonal Shelburne Road store will close.E-commerce operations will move to Ohio, potentially leading to faster shipping but with an unclear impact on jobs.Gardens Alive aims to revitalize Gardener’s Supply and maintain its role in the Vermont business community.
This story has been updated with additional information.
Gardens Alive Inc. officially owns the bankrupt Gardener’s Supply, and they will “retain 100% of Gardener’s Supply’s associates across garden centers and manufacturing, and in the future will look to hire for other areas of the business.”
The sale of Gardener’s Supply for $9 million closed on Friday, Aug. 8, the Indiana-based Gardens Alive announced in a news release.
“We continue to dig in to fully understand how best to stabilize the business, and we see a lot of opportunity for positive momentum,” Gardens Alive CEO Felix Cooper said in the news release.
Gardens Alive will keep open Gardener’s Supply’s five retail garden centers across Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts, but will close the seasonal store that opened recently on Shelburne Road, moving those employees to the permanent centers.
The company has committed to retaining all of Gardener’s Supply’s employees in the garden centers, and its manufacturing facility in Georgia, Vermont − Solar Energy Research and Construction facility (SERAC), saying it realizes the importance of “this domestic production capability.”
Gardener’s Supply’s ecommerce operations will move to Gardens Alive’s fulfillment center in Fairfield, Ohio, which the company claims will result in faster shipping for customers and free up resources to invest in marketing and merchandising and improve the “customer experience.”
Approximately 40 positions in the Milton warehouse and Burlington contact center were eliminated as part of the bankruptcy sale prior to closing, according to Gardens Alive.
Gardens Alive CEO: ‘We are stepping in with purpose’
Cooper said he realizes the important role Gardener’s Supply has played in Vermont’s business community as a long-standing success story before the bankruptcy.
“We know the circumstances for this transition are challenging, and we are stepping in with purpose,” he said. “We see the stewardship of this institution as an honor and a responsibility.”
Gardener’s Supply owes more than $4.5 million to unsecured creditors, the largest being UPS, which is owed nearly $1 million. In addition, Gardener’s Supply owes $8.2 million in secured debts to the Bank of America and Vermont-based Northfield Savings Bank. Four other Vermont companies are owed more than a combined $250,000 in unsecured debt.
Gardens Alive Chairman Niles Kinerk said in a news release that his company’s goal is to revitalize Gardener’s Supply and build trust with employees and the community.
“We believe in this company, in the people, and in what it can be for the next generation of gardeners,” Kinerk said.
Contact Dan D’Ambrosio at 660-1841 or ddambrosi@gannett.com. Follow him on X @DanDambrosioVT.
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