ELYRIA, Ohio — With higher fuel costs, local mom-and-pop shops are navigating the rising cost of doing business. This is a busy time for garden centers.
“It’s insanity, that’s the only way to describe it now,” said J.R. Pandy, vice president of Pandy’s Garden Center in Elyria.
In business since 1961 in the same Griswold Road location, Pandy's has seen its space grow significantly.
"Started as a three-car garage and then just grew, grew, grew and now we have 14 acres," Pandy said.
What’s also growing is the bill to offset fuel costs.
“We recently got a truckload of nursery stock in from Oregon, a lot of unique, different specimens,” he said. “Our surcharge just for the fuel alone was $1,100 and you know that affects the bottom line; we have to recoup that, but we are doing some things to avert some of those pricing.”
Pandy said they grow a lot of their own stuff, so they don’t have to buy from a middleman.
“We’re trying to shop a little bit more local, we’re committing early to purchasing items, like we’ll order in June this year for the following year,” he said.
The garden center has started charging a $7.95 delivery surcharge.
“To help with the cost of fuel and then once it comes back down, we’ll eliminate that,” said Pandy.
He also said fewer people had been gardening over the last few years, but that’s starting to change.
“I have noticed that there are a lot more people, and typically, being in this business so long, when fuel prices go up, have a tendency to stay home,” said Pandy. “At home, what do you do? You fix up the yard, and we cannot believe how much soils we have sold for gardens.”
Kollman's Greenhouse Inc. in Twinsburg is also navigating increased costs. I reached out via the company's website contact form to get more information.
President and owner Betsy Bresky wrote, in part, "High gas prices are going to have an effect on my plastics order as well. Plants come in pots, flats, trays and they need trellises and tags... all of those are plastic, a petroleum product."
Bresky wrote: "I plant my garden mums for fall in June and my poinsettias for Christmas in July. Even if prices go down in the fall and winter, I still need to recoup the costs I've incurred when the prices were high."
Kollman's has been in the family for 55 years. Bresky and her husband purchased the business from her parents 10 years ago.
