Mike
Well-known member
John Deere has been buying all of the private landscaping nurseries and home/business irrigation supply houses in this area for a few years. They are definitely expanding into different markets.
Deere uses its brand
John Deere entered the landscape distribution game in 2001 when the well-branded company acquired McGinnis Farms, which included Jenco Nursery and Pipe 'N Heads. Its newest venture is called John Deere Landscapes. Next the company acquired Richton International, a publicly traded company that owned Century Rain Aid.
"Century Rain Aid had sales in excess of $200 million," said Michael McGrady, senior vice president of John Deere Landscapes. "We closed on Century Rain Aid last October and combined it and Richton into John Deere Landscapes. Now we're the largest national wholesale distributor of green-industry products."
There are 240 John Deere Landscapes outlets in 39 states and Canada. The stores are set up to expedite jobs for landscape contractors.
"The mechanics of doing a landscape job is a zero-value-added function," McGrady said. "To get the job done, a contractor has to spend a lot of time just acquiring material. But we provide full turnkey kitting -- we assemble all the components for the job and put them in our rewholesale branch."
John Deere Landscapes is expanding into the Midwest, although they already have a presence in the area.
"Our direct sales staff is already up there making sales, we just don't have any physical stores there yet," he said. The benefit of buying from a rewholesaler is primarily convenience, he said.
"Growers tend to specialize, but we buy in substantial volume and can offer a wider variety of products," he said. "It all comes down to a decrease in the contractor's time and expenses."
John Deere Landscape uses a vast number of nursery suppliers and tends to buy locally. The company also does multiyear contracts with some growers, he said.
"We have semi-autonomous branches and each branch is empowered to maintain its nursery product mixes to meet its needs," he said.
The company is contemplating offering benefits to landscape contractors, such as healthcare, he said.
Deere uses its brand
John Deere entered the landscape distribution game in 2001 when the well-branded company acquired McGinnis Farms, which included Jenco Nursery and Pipe 'N Heads. Its newest venture is called John Deere Landscapes. Next the company acquired Richton International, a publicly traded company that owned Century Rain Aid.
"Century Rain Aid had sales in excess of $200 million," said Michael McGrady, senior vice president of John Deere Landscapes. "We closed on Century Rain Aid last October and combined it and Richton into John Deere Landscapes. Now we're the largest national wholesale distributor of green-industry products."
There are 240 John Deere Landscapes outlets in 39 states and Canada. The stores are set up to expedite jobs for landscape contractors.
"The mechanics of doing a landscape job is a zero-value-added function," McGrady said. "To get the job done, a contractor has to spend a lot of time just acquiring material. But we provide full turnkey kitting -- we assemble all the components for the job and put them in our rewholesale branch."
John Deere Landscapes is expanding into the Midwest, although they already have a presence in the area.
"Our direct sales staff is already up there making sales, we just don't have any physical stores there yet," he said. The benefit of buying from a rewholesaler is primarily convenience, he said.
"Growers tend to specialize, but we buy in substantial volume and can offer a wider variety of products," he said. "It all comes down to a decrease in the contractor's time and expenses."
John Deere Landscape uses a vast number of nursery suppliers and tends to buy locally. The company also does multiyear contracts with some growers, he said.
"We have semi-autonomous branches and each branch is empowered to maintain its nursery product mixes to meet its needs," he said.
The company is contemplating offering benefits to landscape contractors, such as healthcare, he said.
