big grower


a week. Reit says the merchandisers have varying responsibilities depending on the customer. Reit says the customer buys his product outright so his mer- chandisers check in with all of the stores on a regular basis to make sure everything is in order but are not responsible for taking care of the plants in the stores.


A Family Guy It is very apparent that Larry Reit is a family man.


His entire family is involved in the business. “My wife and two daughters run the retail store. My son and I run the wholesale side of the business. I never expected any of them to be in the business and they all are in it! What more could you ask for?” “I have been blessed with a wonderful family. They


are all good kids,” he says proudly. He says his family was the primary reason why he


decided to build 18 new Nexus greenhouses in 2008. He says if it weren’t for the next generation of Reits, he probably would have expanded but not to the extent that he did. “We did this expansion because we’ve got another generation or two coming along,” and he wants to help lay the groundwork for their future suc- cess today. The new greenhouses have provided Plant


Marketing with the expanded capacity to comfortably meet the demands of today’s cus- tomers. The location of the new greenhouses is several miles down the road from Plant Marketing’s original facilities in Eau Claire. Reit says, when the time and business condi- tions are right, there is room for future expan- sion at the new location.


Another Good Investment Last year, after new greenhouses were


built, Reit bought a new transplanter to help fi ll the houses. Reit said the increase in quality and the savings in labor that the new machine provides has been unbelievable. There’s defi nitely savings in manpower but


The eight workers that had been planting have been reassigned to other positions that were needed in the greenhouse.


Conclusion When Reit started selling his product wholesale, he


said he never imagined he would be operating on the scale that he is today. “It’s an interesting story coming from a 12-foot greenhouse to a garden center to this,” Reit says pointing to his new greenhouses. “Never once did I envision being this big. Never,” he remarks. But his years of experience as a grower have pro-


vided him with quite an education. And that educa- tion is paying off. He has been selective in who he does business with and positioned his company to take advantage of a changing marketplace. Despite the slowdown in the economy last year, Reit


said 2009 was a good year for Plant Marketing. “The demand was there. The product sold like crazy. We really benefi ted from the staycations as more people stayed home and fi xed up their yards. Our sales were way up and our costs were down” due to lower fuel prices. And Reit says the momentum from 2009 has car-


Feeding the Demand


Statistics show that consumers have been hungry to grow their own vegetables, herbs and fruits in recent years. Larry Reit says Plant Marketing has benefi ted from the trend and has been helping feed that consumer desire for edible products.


Reit says Plant Marketing has always grown vegetables but the numbers were never real big. However, over the past couple of years consumer demand for edibles “has gone absolutely nuts.”


“From 2008 to 2009 we doubled our vegetable production. And then from 2009 to 2010, we doubled that number again!” — Larry Reit


“the quality is where you really see the ben- efi ts,” Reit says. Last year, 11 employees were sticking the cuttings, but with the new transplanter, now it only takes three people to do the same amount of planting. Reit didn’t buy the transplanter to eliminate jobs. He


wanted to improve the consistency and overall quality of his products and he has defi nitely been able to do that. During peak season the transplanter will run up to 16 hours a day and can plant about 367 fl ats an hour. “Every plant is where it is supposed to be. When you look down a row, each one is lined up like a soldier.”


ried over in to 2010. But he doesn’t take anything for granted. “If there is anything you have to do in this industry, you have to be on the lookout for change and accept it when it comes. Be prepared for it when it comes, because it is going to come and you have to be able to react to it.” ■


Tim Hodson is editorial director of GPN’s Big Grower. He can be reached at (847) 391-1019 or thodsonsgcmail.com.


30 GPN 2010 Digital Resource & Buyers Guide www.gpnmag.com


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