Broadway’s Blue Ribbon Nursery & Landscaping is celebrating 20 years in business this year.
“For a small business, 20 years is a big accomplishment,” said Chad Comer, co-owner of Blue Ribbon and former Broadway town councilman.
Landscaper John Shifflett and hobbyist gardener Chad Comer started the business together in 2006. While Shifflett is out on landscaping jobs daily and is rarely at the shop, Comer runs the retail side of the business and is typically behind the counter.
“We both collaborate,” Comer said. “All decisions come through both of us.”
The garden center located on Broadway’s Main Street has both outdoor and indoor plants, as well as garden decor. In spring, the shop is bursting with flowers. Vegetable seeds are for sale; garden decorations line the walls, and a few cats roam around greeting customers.
When the business first started, it was exclusively a landscaping business for a year before Comer and Shifflett added a garden center to sell plants and other products sourced from growers around the country.
“When we first started, we strictly did landscaping,” Comer said. “It evolved into retail, garden center products, all that stuff.”
The business is now a Broadway staple that has been voted “Best of Virginia” by Virginia Living Magazine for two years in a row.
The garden center’s plants are always popular, especially in spring, but another bestselling product is colorful garden flags featuring animals, plants, and messages. The business also employs a designer for custom wreaths and flower arrangements, both of which are popular.
There are unique challenges in running a business with so many living things, and Comer said that he and his employees have to water all the plants daily and trim dead leaves and growth. Even so, they still sometimes lose a plant.
“This is our largest time for inventory,” Comer said. “There’s a lot of work involved. We hope they sell before we have to do all that.”
Comer said he and Shifflett decided that the Broadway-Timberville area, which did not have many retail stores 20 years ago, needed a garden center.
“I think we were accepted, one hundred percent,” Comer said. “That’s why we try to give back to the community.”
Despite an overcast day and slightly chilly temperatures on Tuesday, bright flowers were blooming outside the garden center, and many customers were there. One of these was John Grandfield from Stanley, who said this wasn’t his first time at Blue Ribbon.
“We’ve gotten a little bit of everything here,” Grandfield said. “This time, it’s a little bit for our veggie garden.”
Grandfield said he likes to “do the rounds” and shop at several local nurseries, including Blue Ribbon.
“This one is right by the road, easy to see,” Grandfield said. “And there are good supplies.”
Though the business has expanded over the years, it has remained a fixture as the town of Broadway grew around it.
“There are tons more homes than there were 20 years ago,” Comer said. “Neighborhoods and subdivisions that have been developing. I think the biggest change is that.”
Customers’ habits have changed, too. Online shopping is the norm, and Comer said there are even online stores that sell plants that they have to compete with.
“Giant retailers have convinced people they only have to shop when there’s a sale,” Comer said.
But, he said, there are benefits to shopping for plants in person.
“You’re getting better quality,” Comer said. “And we can answer your questions.”
Blue Ribbon Nursery & Landscaping is holding a variety of events all year to celebrate the 20th anniversary, including bingo nights, Food Truck Fridays and seasonal open houses. For more information, visit the business’s website at blueribbonnursery.com.
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