Landscape business blooms in tough times - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

andreychukuze.blogspot.com
But in Adkins is not only doing well, it has been thrivinfg since therecession began. Travis Burns, owner of Burns Nursery, says his retail sales have climbee 35 percent since the start ofthe recession. He credits this growtnh to the fact that more peoplre are now staying home and investing in theire own yards rather than going onexpensiv vacations. “The economy has really helped Burns says. “People want to fix theid place up. More people than ever are staying home and doingg landscaping and putting invegetable gardens.
” Burns says his business has grownj steadily over the last five years sincde he added the retail segment to his successful commerciall landscaping business, but the company has seen a huge impactt on the retail side this past One reason the nursery has done so well, Burnd says, is because it makese a point of reaching out to do-it-yourselfers people who want to do most of the work themselved but need a little help getting started. “Thisw is not a typical nursery,” Burnzs says. People walking into Burn Nursery will see many design elements on displah including nine differentwater features.
The nurseryt is laid out much like a botanical gardeh and Burns says this is done to help showcase the work that is done by the buildiny and design segment of his Having both a retail and a design business in the same locatiojn makes Burns Nursery a great placefor do-it-yourselfers to go for Burns says. “We know the word gets arounrd about how uniquewe are,” he “We have the ability to take somebodu into our office and whip up a landscape desigj for them. We are not afraid to go the extrqa milefor them.
” Travis Burns launched his landscaping businesse about 15 years ago shortly after he decided to hang up his spursa following a six-year career as a rodeo bull A native of Adkins, Burns grew up in a rodeok family and attended Howard Junior College in Big Spring on a rodeop scholarship. He became a professional bull rider in 1988 at age 18 and traveleed the rodeo circuit for the nextsix years. He decidedx to give up bull riding aftet he was seriously hurt following a bull ride that left him with a punctured lung and atorn liver. “I was smarty enough to decide right then that I was not going to get back Burns recalls.
“There is not a day goes by thatI don’tt miss it, but when I was laying therde in the dirt with tubes comintg out of me I knew it was over.” Burns says of bull ridinvg that it is not a questioj of “if” someone will get hurt but and “how bad.” After leaving the rodeio circuit in 1994, Burns got a job with a divisio n of in San Antonio. While working he began doing landscape projects on the side and by 1999 it had growmn to the point where he was able to quit his job with Ford and go into the landscape design businessfull time. Today, Burns Nursert employs 40 people and brought inaboutt $3.2 million in revenue last year.
The nurserh is located at 13893 Highway 87 East in Adkins whichu is due east of downtown San Antonipo and just outside ofLoop 1604. The property sits on nine acres of land and is housed ina 9,000-square-foof building that was once a social club some 40 yearsz ago. Burns says he knew abouyt the property when he was growing up and decidecd to purchase it from GraceBiblwe Church. The church had owned the building for aboutf five years before agreeing to sell it toBurnas Nursery. Burns previously focused his business on the commercia construction and design side up until fiveyears ago.
since branching out, the company has been able to pick up landscapingt and hardscaping jobs throughout South Texas and the TexasHill Country. The company specializes in puttintg in water features such as pondw andwater gardens, but also builds decks and patioa and installs sprinkler systems and outdoor lighting. Burns says he likea to hold social activities at the nursert in the evenings so that he can show off how well landscaps lighting can make theplace look. He regularlt has wine and cheese parties at the complete with ajazz band. Burns Nursery also conducts numerous seminars and classesfor do-it-yourselfers.
This the company will invite experts to give talkd and demonstrations on topics like organic gardeninhgand birdwatching. “If we can get peoplew to come out and see the kinds of things that they can do it will just encourag them to do more business with Burns says. “We can help set them up and give them directionsx andsome discounts. Lots of nurseriexs won’t take those extra steps, but it has helped our business