Jon Weaver has been in the garden center business quite a while, and although he's looking forward to retirement, he says he'll miss joy of selling flowers every day.
Weaver, who co-owns Martin's Pet & Garden Center in Elkhart, Ind., with his business partner Gary Miller, is planning to retire with his wife, Kathy, and sell the store by the end of October. Weaver and Kathy, who has run the bookkeeping for Martin's Pet & Garden Center for many years, attempted to find a buyer for the business but have been left with no other option than to shut down.
Martin's lawn care service will continue under Miller's supervision and will based out of another location, Weaver says. The IGC's property itself, a building comprising just shy of an acre in downtown Elkhart, will be sold after Martin's closes down.
"We’ve changed over the years, with the times, but now it’s time," Weaver says. "We’ve tried to sell it and have not found a buyer for it, for whatever reason, for the last five years, so we’ve decided to retire."
Starting his career at Martin's as a teenager about 50 years ago, Weaver worked his way up to owner when he purchased the IGC in 1995 along with Miller. The retailer has roughly 12 year-round employees and reaches about 25 during peak season. Weaver says most of the store's staff have other job prospects and offers on the table.
"Most of them have plans or ideas of what they want to do, and right now, Elkhart County has about 20,000 to 30,000 job openings," Weaver says. "As people find out we’re closing down, a lot of people know our employees from coming in here, and some of them already have job offers. I don’t foresee it’s going to be a problem for any of them."
Looking ahead to his retirement, Weaver says he looks forward to taking time for things that didn't fit into his schedule previously.
"Just two blocks down the street, we have a fantastic botanical garden," Weaver says. "They’ve been after me to volunteer down there, so that’s one thing I will consider. I want to take my wife out for breakfast on a Saturday morning - we never get to do that. And it’s been 25 years since I touched my fishing poles."
Even after so many years as owner of Martin's Pet & Garden Center, Weaver says his passion for gardening is still strong.
"I’ve always enjoyed the lawn and garden business," he says. "Springtime, selling plants, is one of the most fun times of the year and I know I’ll miss it, but I have lots of plants at home to tend to now. I’ll keep dabbling in it probably as long as I live."