Jay Sachetti joined Jeff O’Brien, partner at Husch Blackwell and Dyanne Ross-Hanson, president of Exit Planning Strategies talked about the market for mergers and acquisitions, exit planning opportunities for companies that don’t end up for sale and how companies can maximize their eventual sale price during an early October panel at the first Upsize on Tap event at Summit Brewing Co. in St. Paul.
When the state Legislature passed a law requiring employers to provide paid leave and safe time for employees, Justin Bieganek started hearing differing details from friends, colleagues and peers.
For 100 years Wagner Greenhouses, with two locations in Hugo and Minneapolis, closed its retail garden center each year after New Year’s through early April. This year it’s changing the tradition and staying open all winter in Minneapolis.
Why? “We just decided to try it,” says Hrizantema Gueorguiev (who goes by Riz and hails from Bulgaria), the Minneapolis store manager for the past eight years.
The operation has always kept employees on through the winter, paying them to sow plants in the on-site production facility, which then sell wholesale to nurseries. Now the employees will split their time between the wholesale and retail operations.
“It’s pretty slow,” Riz said in mid-January. “We tried to advertise more, mail newsletters. A lot of people think of us as spring open.”
Wagner’s now sells house plants; it used to sell outdoor plants only, except for the annual holiday poinsettia boutique.
Last year Frank’s greenhouses and crafts centers closed in the Twin Cities, but Riz says that closure had nothing to do with Wagner’s changed tactics. “It’s an advantage,” she concedes about having one less competitor.
Hrizantema Gueorguiev, Wagner Greenhouses: 612.922.6901; www.wagners.biz
