big grower Today, Larry has a lot more greenhouses (that also
are a lot larger) in Wisconsin and Florida that produce bedding plants, vegetables and potted foliage plants in just about every size container and price point that you can imagine. Plant Marketing is the major live goods supplier to
many home improvement centers in the upper Mid- west as well as K-Mart stores. They also supply product to some grocery stores like Kroger and Winn-Dixie and independent garden centers including the retail store his family also owns, May’s Floral Garden in Eau Claire. The company also grows potted foliage on 20 acres at its facilities in Mt. Dora, Fla. Over the years, Plant Marketing has supplied plant
material to a variety of chain stores including Target. Reit said at one point in the 1990s Plant Marketing was supplying more than 600 Target stores with plants.
Working With Big Accounts Today, Reit’s biggest customers are home improve-
ment centers. Reit has been supplying home improve- ment retailers with ornamental bedding plants for nearly a decade now. He said he really enjoys working with large corporate accounts. He likes the open line of communication he has with
his customers. He sits down with buyers on a regular basis and goes over the retailer’s plan for the year and what types of products they will need and when they will need them in the stores. “We have a close relation- ship with the buyer.” This “guided speculation” gives Reit and his team the production information they need to do their planning for the year. “They really are pretty easy to work with.”
Plant Marketing at A Glance
Headquarters: Eau Claire, Wis. Owner: Larry Reit
Production area: 16 acres in two locations in Eau Claire. Company also owns 20 acres of potted foliage production facilities in Mt. Dora, Fla.
Major Customers: Home improvement centers, big box retailers and grocery store chains.
Employees: Approximately 70 during peak season (28 year round)
Website:
www.plantorders.com 28 GPN 2010 Digital Resource & Buyers Guide
www.gpnmag.com
Plant Marketing’s new Nexus greenhouses in Eau Claire, Wis., have provided the company with expanded capacity to meet the demands of its customers.
But Reit says his company is also nimble enough to
deal with any curveballs that are thrown their way. “I like to believe that we are big enough to serve a large corporation but fl exible enough to be able to react to any changes or requirements” from his customers or the marketplace.
Taking Care of Business In Eau Claire, Plant Marketing employs approxi-
mately 70 people during peak season (about 28 of those are year-round employees)
in two different
locations. Reit said he runs a very lean management staff — himself, his son Josh, a chief fi nancial offi cer, a human resources person, a marketing person and a receptionist. He also has three people “that are on road merchandising the stores. Everybody else is working in the greenhouses.” Josh handles transportation, distribution and
operations, while Larry is very hands-on running the production operations in the greenhouses. As you can imagine, in early May when Big Grower visited with Reit, the entire operation was buzzing with activity. Greenhouse workers were moving
loaded carts
throughout the wide aisles of new greenhouses, and fork trucks were zipping around the shipping area preparing to load as many as 15 semi trailers a day. Plant Marketing’s merchandisers are always on the road visiting all of their customers two to three times
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