Hoerr Nursery is Celebrating 80 Years: Generation Celebration

80 Years in the Nursery Business in Peoria. Illinois

It would have been impossible to predict in 1926 when David August Hoerr started a small trucking business to support his family, that the business would bloom, flourish and grow into the multi-million dollar business it is today.

D. A. Hoerr & Sons started the year his son, Jim, was born. At the time D.A.'s older son, Rudy, was about 5, and son John didn't come along until as many years later. These three brothers eventually bought the company from their father and with their faith in God, diverse talents, hard work, and commitment to quality products and customer satisfaction, they grew the company. They added a retail garden center, landscape contracting division with design services, lawn maintenance, and irrigation installation and service, and a commercial division.

Recently the four grandsons of D. A. Hoerr, have become the owners of the company, and with the foundation of their fathers and grandfather, have been able to build the company into downstate Illinois' largest sod grower and landscape nursery. Now, the business, known as Hoerr Nursery, is looking toward commemorating its first 80 years, and anticipating the growth and opportunities that are ahead.

"The sod business was our beginning and continues to be one of the essential cores of sales and relationships, both retail and commercial," said Jack Hoerr, co-owner and Manager, Sod Division.

"May 2006 was our best month ever in the Garden Center, and we continue to see 2006 as an exceptional year for us," said Jeff Hoerr, co-owner and CFO.

The "green industry" as the landscape business is known, is unusual in that there are few large businesses that dominate. Hoerr Nursery is unique in that it dominates the field in some of its offerings, such as sod, and in addition, it offers a wide selection of quality products and services throughout its various other divisions. Through this diversification, it is able to work with customers from start to finish. The current thinking about the industry is that as gas prices continue to rise, and as travel becomes more of a headache, homeowners will look more to improvements in their "outdoor rooms" in order to cocoon at home with family and friends.

"We feel we are fine-tuning our business to better meet the needs of a dynamic, evolving customer base. We will always be attentive to the traditional gardener - we have probably a dozen horticulturists and arborists on staff to expertly meet those needs -- yet in addition, now, we are looking toward the new consumer who wants more of a 'turn-key' solution from us. This customer is able to come in, speak with a designer in our landscape contracting division or speak with a horticulturist in the Garden Center, and we can walk the customer through the process of how we can handle all the details for them from idea, to selection of products, to professional installation. Then, with our Lawn Maintenance Division, we can even handle the long-term care of the landscape," said Nathan Hoerr, co-owner and CEO.

Su Lok, Manager, Public Relations, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, discussed these trends in a recent interview with Jane Mason, Marketing Director, Hoerr Nursery. Lok said, "The garden-inspired, outdoor lifestyle has more and more homeowners extending their living spaces to the outdoors. The outdoor living market [nationally], including both outdoor living products and services, reached $62.5 billion in 2004, rising from $60.1 billion in 2003. Homeowners have become so pressed for time; they seek products/services that make gardening easier. This factors into the homeowner's decision to enlist the help of a professional lawn care service."

Lok added, "Research has found that first time homeowners value the appearance of their home and see gardening/lawn care as a way to increase the value of their investment. Additionally, convenience and time-saving elements are important factors for younger gardeners."

Robert Hendrickson, Managing Director, The Garden Center Group, an International horticultural management firm said, "In the Peoria market, no other company is as qualified to assist with this outdoor room phenomenon quite like Hoerr Nursery. From garden design, to patio and deck construction, living privacy screens of shrubs, to seasonally changing container gardens, Hoerr Nursery can create a complete backyard retreat from start to finish. Their strength comes from being able to offer all the components for homeowners to create their own outdoor living area, as well as three generations of experience. From our perspective, Hoerr Nursery leads the way in tapping into the country's rediscovered love affair with the great outdoors."

"We see tremendous potential in the Landscape Maintenance Division. We have so many capabilities - not only our 80 years in the sod business, but our outstanding expertise and commitment to customer service, too. As more homeowners recognize how convenient is it to have Hoerr Nursery handle all their landscaping needs, we anticipate our division will solidify its premier position in the market," John W Hoerr, co-owner and Manager, Landscape Maintenance Division.

Hoerr Nursery is celebrating its 80th Anniversary with a "Generation Celebration." It is focusing on the generations of customers, employees and of course the three generations -so far-of Hoerr family members who have made the business what it is today.

The new tagline for the nursery, "Quite Simply. Amazing." underscores the concept that the nursery and landscape company is experienced, capable, and can handle "quite simply" what is thought of as a complicated project. Customers frequently respond, "amazing" when informed that Hoerr Nursery has over 12,000 trees available at its various tree farms; that it hand-tends and grows over 5,000 poinsettias for Christmas; that it grows or finishes about 60% of all plant material that is sold at the nursery; that it has up to 700 acres of sod in production each year; that it has up to 180 employees during the peak season; that it finished 10,000 geraniums in the greenhouses in the spring, etc.

For the Generation Celebration - the celebration of the 80th Anniversary --a number of seminars are being held to educate retail and commercial customers on techniques and trends in gardening. Also, a display will be set up in the Garden Center reflecting on some "old fashioned" household products and tools to allow today's youth to see how things were different just a generation ago, and there will be activities and hand-outs for youngsters on Saturday, September 16.

On the retail side, there will be an overall focus on products that last for generations - such as trees and stone. The area in the Garden Center where stone products are sold, has been renamed "The StoneMarket" to highlight the retail aspect of the area. Individuals are welcome to browse and shop for stone, boulders, rock mulches, organic mulches, soil, soil amendments and bulk products in the StoneMarket. Commercial customers have always felt at home in the area, but now the StoneMarket will sport a new, improved look and be more "user friendly" for individuals who may be less familiar with the products and merchandise in the area.

In honor of Rose Hoerr, David August's wife, and the mother of their 12 children, rose quartz is available at a special price at the nursery, and there is a special contest to guess the weight of the rose quartz in a display in the garden. (Contest ends 9/16/06.)

Hoerr Nursery is celebrating its 80th year. It was founded in 1926 by D.A. Hoerr. Today, it is the 3rd generation of the family who owns and operates the thriving business. Hoerr Nursery specializes in trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, landscaping, sod, landscape design, gift items & garden related products.