How Long Has Styers Garden Center Been Around

Garden center thrives on quality plants, customer service

ANDREA BRILL, Special correspondent

Shoppers at L.A. Reynolds Garden Showcase are treated to an array of stunning flowers, well-maintained trees and neatly trimmed shrubs.

Combine those elements with a knowledgeable and friendly staff, and it's easy to understand why the garden center, 4400 Styers Ferry Road, was named the 2011 Garden Center of the Year by Garden Centers of America.

This national award is presented annually to an independently owned garden center that is active in the garden industry and that demonstrates a commitment to implementing innovative and progressive management practices. GCA is a member-supported organization that was established in 1973, with the mission of assisting, supporting and sustaining independent retail-garden centers.

Members are nominated based on several factors, said Shanan Molnar, vice president of operations at GCA. "Their active participation in the industry as a whole, not just our association, but their give-back to the community and their volunteering in the community are relevant, as well as just being a progressive retailer. By that, I mean they are out there looking for better ways to serve their clients and ways to be better stewards."

Brothers Mike and Ken Long accepted the award Aug. 18 during the Independent Garden Center Trade Show at Chicago's historic Navy Pier.

Their only regret is that the senior Long was not present. "Without him, we wouldn't be here today," Ken said. "My mother was sad that he wasn't able to enjoy it with us, or rather, us enjoy it with him. But he's up there enjoying it somehow." Gerald "Jerry" H. Long died in 2010. He was 82.

The Longs have demonstrated their commitment to the national garden industry.

"We were a host in 2008 when the annual tour came to North Carolina," Ken said. "Mike and I organized that tour. We pretty much took people from around the country on a three-day tour from I-40 in Winston-Salem past I-95 to visit places like us, with the purpose of learning by looking, learning by networking and seeing what other people were doing."

Ken, 49, served as president of GCA that year and has served as a board member in previous years.

Ken and Mike view their participation in industry events as opportunities to support and mentor new members. They were mentored in the early to mid- '90s, shortly after they purchased L.A. Reynolds in 1991.

"We used to be the ones looking for the mentoring years ago," Mike, 50, said. "We don't know when it happened, but all of a sudden, things flipped-flopped and we're the go-to people. People were good enough to help us as we were trying to learn, and so we give back when they are trying to grow."

Before purchasing the garden center, Jerry Long was CEO of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. for four years. He retired in 1988.

"Part of his vision was to transition from being a big-business guy to a family-business guy," Ken said. "He was looking for a place to start, to create, to nurture and to grow a family-oriented business. He was always a yard guy. If he wasn't working in the office, he was doing something with the family, which involved Mike and me going out to do yardwork with him — whether we wanted to or not."

The Longs are committed to providing quality plants and superior customer service.

"We like to think we're experts on plants, and some of our customers refer to us that way," Ken said. "We're also not sourcing live goods from a corporate office in another state with big-box growers that are more concerned with numbers than quality. We're more concerned about having the right plant in this region that will do well here and that come in disease- and pest-free and is the best quality."

Diane Scime, who manages the annual and perennial departments, agrees.

"The quality of plants and the pride that we put into taking care of our plants and waiting on customers gives you a lot of satisfaction. When they give you a lot of positive feedback on what a great help you've been or say they have learned so much — it's nice to interact like that," she said.

"We're fortunate to have a real good group of employees, both full-time and seasonal," Mike said. "One of the things we want is for our folks to come into work happy and to leave happy."

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