Carolina Nurseries at 686 acres, was the largest wholesale nursery in all of South Carolina. According to Today's Garden Center "the conglomerate, ZZ Acquisitions LLC - an affiliate of The InterTech Group - foreclosed upon the 686-acre nursery during a public auction after no one stepped forward to outbid the debt it was owned by the owners of Carolina Nurseries, according to the story the nursery is now in foreclosure." The article continues, "ZZ Acquisitions loaned Carolina Nurseries $12 million in March of 2009 to keep it afloat, but the nursery operation was unable to repay the loan or find other financial backers. The local county, Berkeley County, actually considered buying the property for nearly $17 million, but council members voted against the idea" What to say? We are going through enormous changes in the nursery industry. It makes me glad we are a small, almost tiny nursery. We do most of our business with small, or medium sized wholesale operations. That will increase as we see more and more of the largest wholesale operations going under, or selling to the box stores. Hopefully small nurseries will be able to grow their own or find wholesale nurseries that can fill their needs.

Boy, if their was ever a time to embrace change it's now. That's hard for me to do. I like to know what's coming down the pike, and anymore you just don't know. This extends beyond the nursery business and into much of our daily lives. Who of us has not been buffeted by these strange winds that are blowing. Take heart in the knowledge that even the biggest players, with all the resources available to them are having a very rough go of it. We small biz take so much to heart personally, that when bad stuff happens we go over board blaming ourselves. Take pleasure in the little things that we often miss when so much is happening around us. The world is so desperate for a positive, upbeat message, why not be the one to give it. It may just be what gives your small business the edge it needs to succeed.