Bergen County garden centers give way to development

From The Record: 

Gardening aficionados will have an even harder time finding a place to buy flowers and shrubs in Bergen County as yet another gardening center joins the roster of such businesses giving way to development.

Owners at Willow Run Nursery & Garden Center on County Road in Cresskill confirmed Tuesday that the 3-acre property is under contract and that a town-house complex is being considered for the site. The area already is zoned for apartments, but site plan approvals are needed, local officials said.

In recent years, D’Angelo Farms in Dumont, Trautwein Farm in Closter and D’Ercole Farms and Garden Center in Norwood also have closed their front gates, much to the chagrin of longtime customers who relied on their supplies as well as the expert planting advice of their staffs.

Glenn Pendergast, the owner of the Willow Run nursery, said he is the third generation in his family to work in the family-owned and -operated business. But he added that anyone devoted to a small business has seen the economy over the past six years and understands that garden centers such as his have been struggling.

“In Bergen County, as you sit on valuable property, it becomes economically unfeasible to be a garden center,” he concluded, “especially if someone comes in with an offer you can’t refuse.”

Read the full article on The Record.