DIFFERENT APPROACHES TO LANDSCAPING WORK FOR SIX DECADES.
For 60 years, the name Impullitti has been synonymous with the landscaping business in northeast Ohio.
The fi rst generation of the company focused on a small number of residential clients, a “Who’s Who of Cleveland.” The operation was labor-intensive with hard-working crews using wheelbarrows, picks and shovels.
Cliff Impullitti Sr. started the company in 1952 and ran it for 33 years until his sons Wayne and Cliff Jr. took over. Wayne has been the sole owner of Impullitti Landscaping since 1990.
“My dad was never concerned about the volume of work,” Wayne says. “All he did was residential, except when one of his clients wanted him to do a project at a business he owned. He was not interested in commercial installation.”
That changed in 1988 when the 24-year-old Wayne did his fi rst commercial job, which he says was a turning point for the company.
“I remember everything about the job,” he says. “It was at the Monarch Center and we were planting on Saturday afternoon when the temperature hit 103 degrees. Our work got the attention of developers and within two weeks we had two more major commercial jobs.”
Later the focus of the Burton, Ohio-based company evolved back into residential work as Wayne took steps to avoid what he saw as market changes and economic downturns. He explains some of the management strategies that have helped the family legacy endure.
On switching from commercial to residential
“When I fi rst got ‘gung ho’ about commercial work, we did tons of installations for condos, hotels, shopping centers and offi ce buildings,” Wayne says. “However, I came to realize that a general bid on someone else’s plan is not our idea. So as time went on, and the commercial building boom declined, our focus turned to residential. That’s our niche — where people are more concerned about the fi nished project.
A completed landscaping project by Impullitti Landscaping.