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anntn6b

I can't find a Michigan Bulb/Jackson and Perkins connection

anntn6b
15 years ago

There have been at least two posts which mention that J&P is a part of the Michigan Bulb family.

I can't find that to be substantiated and we need to try to be accurate.

I have found the J&P (from Bear Creek) sale to the same folks who own a part of Park Wayside to have many references on the internet, especially when you search Bear Creek and Oregon and sale Jackson Perkins.

But re Michigan Bulb...nothing that connects.

The first from the Michigan Bulb website shows their link to Scarlet Tanager LLC

http://michiganbulb.com/article.asp?ai=130

In the middle of this article, more about how it happened

http://multichannelmerchant.com/webchannel/marketing/marketing_top_stories_past/

A list of companies thought to be associated with Scarlet Tanager LLC

http://www.search-mojo.com/wordpress/?p=29

A blog from North Carolina in which Mandie searches for seed sources and finds the Scarlet Tanager interrelationships.

http://www.captivatedbymandie.com/blog/2006/04/sorry-for-lengthyness.html

I'm very open to reading more, but right now, I haven't found the Michigan Bulb/J&P link.

There are definitely problems, but complaints need to be accurate and substantiated (without potentially wrong info included).

IF you have the Michigan Bulb connection in a link, would you please share it?

Comments (12)

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I thought they were bought out by the company that owned Park Seed. I thought the company was located in Canada, but I am not aware of a Michigan Bulb connection.
    Sammy

  • triple_b
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    from what I have heard lately they have a pretty spotty reputation and their Garden Watchdog page doesn't speak overly well of them either. Also check out some other threads recently posted regarding J & P. I know Michigan Bulb gets mentioned in one of them and not in a positive manner.

    Here is a link that might be useful: michigan bulb on Garden Watchdog.

  • triple_b
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    They've been sold before but the current ownership group includes Wayside/Michigan Bulb and other nefarious lables.

  • anntn6b
    Original Author
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I'm asking for something that proves that J &P and or Wayside and or Park have a relationship to Michigan Bulb /Scarlet Tanger LLC.
    Not just heresay.
    I searched the page you linked to for "Perkins", "Jackson", "j&p", "J & P", and also "J&P" and my serach feature couldn't find those words on that page which is devoted to Michigan Bulb.
    What I need to see is something from the business pages of a newspaper/ business weekly .

    Not all businesses are interrelated. Anyone can say they are, but when products are being talked about negatively, we shouldn't mix up names without being sure that we're totally accurate.

  • sammy zone 7 Tulsa
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ann, I hope this helps. I am not terribly interested in this since I usually do not purchase from J&P.
    Sammy


    Harry & David Sells Off Jackson & Perkins
    May 1, 2007 12:00 PM , By Jim Tierney


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    Now that gardening cataloger Jackson & Perkins is owned by a company specializing in horticulture, it may be in a better position for growth. On April 10, Medford, OR-based Harry & David Holdings sold most of the assets of the $73.8 million Jackson & Perkins, including the catalogs, the Website, the customer lists, and the inventory, for roughly $21 million to an investment group headed by Donald and Glenda Hachenberger. A second investment group has agreed to buy about 3,200 acres of Jackson & Perkins' growing fields in Wasco, CA, the so-called Rose Capital of the Nation, along with certain buildings and equipment.

    At press time, Charles "Chas" Fox was expected to take over as president of Jackson & Perkins. He is president of two other gardening catalogs, Park Seed Co. and Wayside Gardens, and of Southern Sun BioSystems, which licenses technology, materials, and equipment for plant propagation. Fox founded Hodges, SC-based Southern Sun in 1997, then sold it to the Hachenbergers. The Hachenbergers also own a stake in Park Seed and Wayside Gardens.

    Jackson & Perkins fits in with the audiences of both Park Seed/Wayside and Southern Sun, as it sells to consumers as well as to gardening centers. Fox told the Ashland (OR) Daily Tidings that the purchase was an "ideal opportunity" for the Hachenbergers' investment group.

    "For us, Jackson & Perkins is a one-of-a-kind brand," Fox said. "There's not another like it out there. It was an opportunity that probably wouldn't come down the pike again. Since November, we've gone through a tremendous amount of due diligence and data to see the value of the company and its potential. It's the most recognizable brand in the horticulture industry."

    The bloom off the rose?

    Jackson & Perkins is indeed a renowned and respected brand. But for the former parent company, it seemed the bloom was off the rose. For the fiscal year ended June 24, 2006, sales at Jackson & Perkins were down 2% from the previous year. The company blamed the decline primarily on weaker demand for roses among the merchant's reseller customers and on a shift in its direct marketing strategy that included lower circulation of catalogs with higher page counts, which resulted in higher average order sizes but lower overall sales.

    In comparison, annual sales for Harry & David Holdings increased nearly 6% last year, to $598.2 million. Direct sales for the Harry & David food gifts brand rose nearly 6%, while Harry & David store sales grew more than 13%.

    "The decision to divest Jackson & Perkins was made only after careful consideration of its strategic fit with our core gift and gourmet food businesses," Harry & David CEO Bill Williams said in a statement. To the Daily Tidings, Williams said, "If you look at this company as an outsider, I would say it clarifies our strategic focus on gifts and foods without a gardening substrategy."

    Williams said that some Jackson & Perkins employees would move on with the new ownership, while others will take Harry & David positions, and some will leave the company. Harry & David will provide wholesale operational services for Jackson & Perkins through 2007 and direct marketing operational work and other services through June 2008.

    http://multichannelmerchant.com/crosschannel/crosschannel/harry_david_sells/

  • hoovb zone 9 sunset 23
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    triple_b, I think Ann's point, in that post, was not about whether any company is good or bad.

    Her point is: she cannot find any indication that Michigan Bulb is part of the same group of companies as Wayside.

    She's just interested in clarifying the facts of ownership, leaving the quality (or lack of) aside for the moment.

    I agree wholeheartedly about clarifying facts: it is important to get the facts straight. Mixing up company A's problems with company B's problems doesn't help matters.

  • karl_bapst_rosenut
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ann,
    I also have searched for a Michigan Bulb (Scarlet Tanager), Jackson and Perkins (Hachenbergers' investment group) connection and like you can find nothing connecting the two. I did find the following that lists those names owned by Scarlet Tanager LLC


    Brand Name Owner: SCARLET TANAGER LLC
    Brand Name Owner Address: C/O NILES KINERK 7602 HYLAND LANE GUILFORD INDIANA 47022

    Brands Owned: GARDEN SOLUTIONS
    GARDEN SOLUTIONS
    GURNEY
    GURNEY
    HENRY FIELD
    HENRY FIELD
    HENRY FIELD'S
    MICHIGAN BULB CO.

    Before people make statements based on what they've heard or what others state as facts, it should be checked out and verified. I've heard on this forum that J&P bought Wayside and Park Seed and visa versa. Neither is correct. The holding company that owns a controlling interest in Wayside and Park Seed bought J&P.
    Economics would indicate they would combine some parts of the operations either wholely or in part. It seems this has happened. None of the 3 companies are connected with Scarlet Tanager LLC or any of their holdings.
    If otherwise I would like to see proof.
    This may seem unimportant in the greater scheme of things, but mistated comments soon become quoted "facts".
    It's bad enough J&P is dropping to the quality levels of the Wayside and Parks rose products but to compare them to Michigan Bulb is really putting an undeserved black mark on the J&P name at this time.
    Just the facts please!

  • len511
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Are you looking to short the stock or something?

  • Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I too have never heard of a connection between Wayside/Parks and Michigan Bulb company. I've never had anything but good service/plants and roses from Wayside in the past. However I haven't ordered from them in 3 years so things could change. Then to suddenly see Waysides name linked with Michigan Bulb Company greatly alarmed me. Were it true it would have stopped me from placing any future orders with them. Please be careful of the associations you bandy about. Good job Ann bringing this up. Nurseries are dropping like flys all around me and we don't need to push them over the edge before their time with unfounded information.

  • barbarag_happy
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Ann, thanks for bringing this up. I tend to research companies I order from and find out if others are happy with them. I'm always interested in learning more about a well-known company, even if I have no immediate intention of ordering from them. It's amazing how profond an influence an acquisition can be on a company. Edmunds Roses (now part of Jung)is a case in point. Burpee another. White Flower Farms another. Oh, and Smith and Hawken.

  • triple_b
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yes I thought of that AFTER I posted. Dollar short and a day late, I know. Sorry folks.

  • Terry Crawford
    15 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Barbara - who owns White Flower Farms and Smith/Hawken?
    I've been eyeballing some high[-priced tulips from WFF.
    -t