Business Spotlight: Carson's Nurseries

J.J. and Sarah Cybulski have their own stimulus plan for the local lawn and garden market.

The owners of Carson's Nurseries, who purchased the business from Dick Carson three years ago, have spent $400,000 improving their two retail locations at 6607 S. Campbell Ave. and 3184 E. Sunshine St. Today, shoppers are greeted with a more streamlined layout, improved signage, and detailed information about how to select and care for plants.

"Our goal was to make everything more shopper-friendly and really update the look," J.J. Cybulski says.

Behind the scenes, the couple improved point-of-sale and inventory tracking systems. "Now, people can call in for specific items and we know what we have on hand," he adds.

Carson's Nurseries' roots run deep. Dick Carson started the nursery in 1982, and many of the current employees have worked there for 20 years.

"Carson's has some of the best landscape designers in the area, and they have been there a long time, which is a testament to the business," says Bryan Stringer, sales consultant for Texas-based lawn and garden distributor BWI Cos. Inc., a Carson's supplier. "Springfield might be a smaller market than other places, but people like to have their places looking nice."

This year, the Cybulskis are seeing green by helping homeowners fluff up their landscaping and plant more vegetable gardens for home-grown goodness - two major trends in this down economy.

"For people who can't afford to move to a bigger house, they figure they might as well redo their yards and enjoy them now," J.J. Cybulski explains.

Half of Carson's revenues come from walk-in retail sales. The other half of revenues, which Cybulski declined to disclose, is generated from landscape design. The stores boast a bounty of annuals, perennials and indoor plants, along with planters, pottery, garden tools, barbecue accessories and garden décor. Each location has two buyers responsible for specifying indoor and outdoor plants. "We tend to offer things that the Wal-Mart or Lowe's doesn't have," Cybulski says. "We want the things that are specialty and more unique."

Carson's will have two outdoor satellite locations this year for plant sales, one on West Republic Road and another on South Campbell, across from the Sam's Club under construction in James River Commons.

Four landscape designers perform landscaping estimates for home and businesses owners, and an 11-member landscape crew does the work. "We will do $200 jobs, like small flower beds, and big jobs like landscaping new office complexes or school renovations," Cybulski notes.

The lawn and garden industry has its challenges, but Cybulski says he's used to navigating the ebbs and flows of a seasonal business. He has mowed lawns since he was 13 years old and owned JJ's Lawn Service Inc. since 1998. He was helping Dick Carson with landscaping projects and maintaining Carson's 45-acree tree farm behind the South Campbell location before offering to buy the business.

"Having a nursery is different than what I've done before but still related to the green industry," Cybulski says. "I like being outside and having freedom to do something on my own."

His background provides understanding of the weather factor, which can impede sales. "With it raining almost every weekend last spring, people weren't buying flowers until July and that was a hard thing to get over," he says.

This spring has been warmer and people already are working in their yards.

Controlling cash flow while making store improvements is another learning curve. "You want to improve the store so much, and we didn't go out and take a loan for the improvements," Cybulski says.

"Now, we have to make sure we don't grow too quick, too fast, even though Carson's has the potential to be 10 times bigger than it is now."