East Texas nursery one of many ag ventures that boosts economy

By KRISTY HEMMINGSEN | East Texas Edition

Greenhouses and nurseries in Texas add almost $1 billion to the state's ag economy. Pictured at right are customers at Calvert's Garden Center in Mount Pleasant. -- Staff photo by Hemmingsen

March 20, 2003 -- It has taken many years and lots of hard work, but Tony and Susan Calvert of Mount Pleasant have transformed an old and non-operating garden nursery into maybe one of the region's finest agricultural businesses.

In 1979, when the couple first purchased the establishment of a few acres and a couple of buildings, they made a modest investment of $15,000.

After initial establishment of "Calvert's Garden Center," they traveled to places such as Dallas and Tyler to purchase their "stock" that they would bring to their business for resale.

In the beginning, the Calverts offered vegetable and flower bedding plants, which often included tomatoes, peppers, petunias and marigolds. They also sold various chemicals, mulches, peat moss, as well as garden seed, and occasionally, a few shrubs and tree.

As the small, yet thriving, business continued to succeed, the Calverts began to take a closer look at what the area's producers and suppliers would need.

"Quality is our number one objective," explained Tony. "If we don't have something (in stock) it's because we don't want to sell it to our customers."

In 1982, the Calverts also began to buy their products in bulk, from a wider variety of suppliers, and have the supplies "trucked-in" to the nursery.

"We basically wanted to be able to always have what the customer wanted and have on hand the amount they needed," explained Tony. "We wanted to sufficiently meet the demands of the public."

In addition to numerous varieties of vegetable and flower bedding plants, shrubs, and trees, today the Calverts also offer barks, mulches, chemicals, fertilizers, seed, some organic plants, and a hand-full of garden supplies.

One of the more popular features is their large selection of hanging baskets. They buy from a few outside providers, but they grow around 1,000 to 1,500 plants in baskets themselves each year.

Bare-root roses are also grown from the ground up. Tony said delivered roses in the past never seemed to maintain the quality he preferred.

"It takes a lot of work to keep the plants healthy," explained Tony. "We try to maintain the quality, or in some instances, improve it. We want everything to be ideal when purchased. Customer service is important to us."

Ninety-five percent of the items found at Calvert's Garden Center, come from Texas, and most from the East Texas area. One example are the bedding plants that come from the Jacksonville area.

Most of the shrubbery and trees come from El Campo or Houston. And on occasion, the Calverts purchase hard-to-find items from California, Oklahoma, or Georgia.

The nursery is open year-round. Tony said that by always being open for business, they can supply customers with their needs for whatever season, such as selling poinsettias during the holidays.

Another benefit of staying open year-round is it allows them to keep reliable, full-time employees. Tony said they probably have fewer employees (six or seven) than other similar-sized nurseries, but what they have are "good, dependable people" who have been with them for some time now. One employee has been there for 13 years; another for nine years; and a few more for at least five years.

Tony said their busiest time begins in March, then April through May. June can be fairly busy as well, he added, but things begin to slow down in August. Even during the summer months, the Calverts continue bringing in new merchandise, in order to always have fresh, new items available.

The garden center (located on Highway 67 in Mount Pleasant) certainly appears to have built up quite a reputation and serves as a good example of a successful Texas agricultural-type business.