Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Goodbye to a First Class Independent Garden Center

So long to our friends and competitors
Watson's Garden Center has been our friendly competitor for over 50 years. The Watson brothers began their garden center in Towson in 1955, while Valley View Farms' Foard brothers opened in Cockeysville in 1962. A recent article in Baltimore Magazine speaks to the closing of Watson's Garden Center and the future of the Fireplace and Patio Shop, which will remain open. We will miss the camaraderie we shared with Watson's over the years. Our staff would often see and meet their managers and buyers at trade shows. I got to know their greenhouse manager, Eric, over a couple of dinners we shared with mutual  houseplant suppliers Al and Sandy Hammer who visited us both from Florida. Occasionally we would even 'switch' employees when a coworker would trade one uniformshirt for another.
We wish the Watson and Marconi families well in their future endeavors. We hope to attract a few of the company's valued employees to Valley View Farms where they may continue to do the work and share the talent they have mastered at Watson's Garden Center.


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