David Kirby joins TreeTown USA as executive vice president

As Kirby joins the leadership team, David House is retiring after 37 years with Village Nurseries and TreeTown USA.

Provided by TreeTown USA

Provided by TreeTown USA

Posted by Matt McClellan, Editor

Published February 04, 2019
HOUSTON, Texas – TreeTown USA CEO Jonathan Saperstein has appointed David Kirby to the position of executive vice president of TreeTown USA/Village Nurseries/Hines Growers. He will report directly to Saperstein in the newly-created position while based at the company’s Western Division headquarters in Orange, Calif.
 
Kirby's career spanned nearly 30 years most recently at Azusa, Calif.-based Monrovia Nursery Company where he acquired a wide-ranging knowledge of plants and growing conditions. This experience was instrumental in creating successful retail programs throughout the country.
 
"It’s a tremendous opportunity to join such a great team of experienced industry professionals who have the knowledge, commitment and resources to become the No. 1 nursery in America," Kirby said. "With the combined experience in the rewholesale, landscape, mass merchant and IGC retail market segments, TreeTown USA is in the best possible position to develop the right plant mix and customer programs to grow with our changing industry."
 
Kirby is an active member of the California Association of Nursery and Garden Centers. In 2014 he was honored by Texas Tech University’s College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources as a distinguished Alumni. The award is bestowed on graduates whose careers bring distinction to the college and to their professions in agriculture and natural resources.
 
"After an extensive national search, we were fortunate to recruit David Kirby as our new executive VP,” Saperstein said. "He’ll assume responsibility for a number of key functions including leading our national sales team. David has built an enviable reputation as an extraordinary leader with a thorough knowledge of the nursery business. He will become a key executive in what I consider one of the strongest leadership teams in the industry."
 

In conjunction with the Kirby appointment, David House is retiring after 37 years with the company, first as Village Nurseries CEO, then president of the West Coast Division of TreeTown USA.

"I believe the sale of the company to TreeTown USA is the best thing that could have ever happened to Village Nurseries,” House said. “We are now part of a much larger family, one that continues to grow under the leadership of Jonathan Saperstein. While the company continues to grow, it still maintains the same family-like culture we shared at Village which is something everyone should be proud to be a part of. On a more personal note, I am certain that my father, Tom, who started the company and has since passed, is proud of all of our accomplishments and certainly where the company is heading."

In 2017, TreeTown USA acquired Village Nurseries in California as the first branch of its West Coast Division. In 2018, the company acquired Hines Growers in California and Oregon. With these recent acquisitions, the combined company now has a coast-to-coast footprint, including 18 growing facilities totaling over 6,000 production acres across Texas, Florida, Oregon and California.  

"David House’s industry knowledge and proven leadership abilities helped propel Village Nurseries into one of America’s most successful wholesale nurseries dedicated to landscape professionals," Saperstein said. "Bringing him into the TreeTown USA family was one of the major factors in acquiring his company. We wish him a wonderful, productive, and stress-free retirement from the nursery industry."

 

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