Their initial operation consisted of growing vegetable plants in peat pots and other annuals. They sold to independent hardware stores and garden centers in the Matthews/Monroe area. This business was operated from December to May each year. In 1989 Craig and Jeanie Leonard bought the Business from the Kings and began operating year round. The plant list grew to include poinsettias, pansies, garde
n mums and a small variety of perennials. In 1992, the business was incorporated and Craig's brother Larry and wife Jean joined the business. King's Garden Center is located on the original location which is two acres of land in Stallings, NC. We have 14,000 square feet of greenhouse space and approximately 30,0000 square feet of outdoor shopping area under a canopy of pine trees. The Stallings location began to focus on the Retail market in 1994 as Stallings and the surrounding area continued to attract new home owners. We started to convert the Greenhouses from a production facility to a customer friendly shopping facility. The Propagation Greenhouse became our Gift Shop by creating a store front look within the greenhouses, the house became the office, the garage became the checkout, the vegetable garden became the annual area, the open field become the parking lot. The Garden Center first featured what we grew at the FARM: annuals, herbs, vegetables, perennials, and poinsettias. In later years we added products from other regional growers, like trees, shrubs, and house plants, as well as a gift shop, containers, soils, fertilizers, and anything else needed to make us a one stop Garden Center. King's Greenhouses Farm and Wholesale grew significantly between the years 1989 and 1996. To handle the increase in sales, greenhouses throughout the area were leased (Monroe, Mint Hill, University area). In 1996, land was acquired (Monroe Area) and what we now refer to as "The Farm" was born. Our growing range is located on 32 acres of land. We utilize approximately 6 acres of this for indoor and outdoor growing. We built what today is a combination of gutter houses, Quonsets and shade structures. We have cool cell houses (greenhouse version of air conditioning), automatic roll-up curtains, retractable roofs and vented roofs. This provides us with state of the art greenhouses to grow annuals and perennials in a controlled environment. Our plant products have grown to include a vast variety of perennials in quarts and gallons, herbs, spring and fall annuals in 606's, 1801's, 1001's, 6" pots, hanging baskets, specialty size pots and poinsettias. The Farm services a market area of a 180 mile radius. Our target market includes Independent Garden Centers, Commercial Landscapers and Fund Raisers.
