Bower & Branch adds grower Natorp's Nursery

Leesport, Pa. – Bower & Branch, Trees for Life, a group of independent garden retail, landscape firms and growers, announced Dec. 19 that it would add The Wm. A. Natorp Company (Natorp’s Nursery) as a grower member. The Cincinnati-based business is the region’s largest grower and brings 100 years of horticultural excellence to the Bower & Branch group. Natorp’s Nursery joins Eaton Farms as a Bower & Branch licensed member grower and adds a wider selection of specialty trees, perennials and ornamental grasses to expand the current selection of more than 370 tree and topiary varieties available online and through all members.

“The Natorp family has created a resilient, multi-generational business that has never wavered in quality,” said Sid Raisch, President and CEO of Bower & Branch. “It’s their hallmark. And their integrity around quality is something we really value. We were impressed on so many levels with their bench depth of experience and the way they’ve anticipated change." In mid 2015, for the first time, Bower & Branch made it possible for homeowners to find the exact tree they were looking for online, along with the services and support they needed from their trusted local independent garden center. In the past year, more than 180,000 customers have shopped at bowerandbranch.com and online sales have increased over 300 percent.

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“This has been our goal from the start,” said Don Eaton, founder of Bower & Branch, “to create a network of high-quality, family-owned growers, like Natorp’s Nursery, across the country who deliver on the brand promise of quality and who actively embrace change. We had to do something drastic to change the direction of the green industry when many people saw, and still see, no reason to change. Ken Natorp and his sons, Kyle and Craig, share our perspective that this is a way to stay relevant and remarkable.”

Natorp’s Nursery is centrally located, already serving garden retailers and landscape firms in a 100-mile market area that includes cities like Columbus, Dayton, Indianapolis, Louisville and Lexington with even faster and fresher shipments.

“This is an opportunity for us to expand our reach as a grower and to partner with an organization who shares our customer-centric culture,” said Kyle Natorp, President and CEO of Natorp’s Nursery. “My great-grandfather grew his own plants because he couldn’t find high-quality material for his landscape business. He planted a future in the Cincinnati area and we are continuing and
expanding that legacy on a larger scale, something we’re very excited about.”

Bower & Branch will immediately increase its tree and topiary offering and add a host of ornamental grasses and perennial favorites to its ecommerce shop by summer 2017. But the coalition of garden centers and growers has set its sights on adding additional product lines and specialty items soon.

“We are always looking ahead at the possibilities, following trends and seeing consumers making more and more purchases online," Raisch said. "We are pleased and privileged to work together with Natorp’s to create new ecommerce opportunities for member garden retailers and landscape companies."

The Natorp family shared the sentiment. “It’s a great honor to be brought on as a Bower & Branch member grower,” said Ken Natorp, Chairman of the Board. “We see this as the next step in a legacy of changing and improving the way we serve customers. This is the future and we are humbled and excited to be a part of something revolutionary.”

For more information, visit Bower & Branch's industry website.