Seasonal business becomes year-round success

ThisWeek Keys Story 06/28/2012

http://www.thisweeknews.com/content/stories/Key-Bank-Keys-to-Success-stories/2012/06/cuthbert-greenhouse

The Cuthbert family is a perennial name in central Ohio seedling and flower production, and the third-generation owners of Cuthbert Greenhouse Inc. continue to grow on past success.

“We started in 1952. My grandfather started the greenhouse growing hothouse tomatoes and other vegetables for the local farmers’ markets,” owner Brett Cuthbert said. “From there, we expanded into annuals and holiday crops until finally, my father expanded us into a year-round, full-season greenhouse business.”

Brett Cuthbert shares ownership of the business with his brother, David, and cousin, Greg Cuthbert. According to Brett, the boys started working in the greenhouses as children.

“We started working here when we were about 6, and we’ve worked here our whole lives, mostly,” he said. “Our dads wanted us to go out and learn how other businesses ran before we came back. So after college and some time working elsewhere, I was the last to return in about 2001.”

Cuthbert Greenhouse is primarily a wholesale business, run out of two central Ohio locations: 4900 Hendron Road in Groveport and 12061 Federal Road in Orient. Brett and David manage the Groveport location, and live across the street from it, while Greg lives in front of the Orient location, which he manages.

“The main location in Groveport includes 11 acres of temperature-controlled greenhouses, while the Orient location has 4.5 acres of greenhouses,” Brett said. “Out of those, we produce about 80,000 bedding flats of plants annually. Our biggest seller right now is our 10-inch hanging basket – we do about 250,000 of those a year.”

To manage this amount of production, the Cuthberts employ 40 regular staff members and during peak season, will bring on another 40 temporary workers.

“We pretty much ship to other retailers, grocery store chains and big-box stores like Kmart. We also do some contract growing for other greenhouses and for landscapers,” he said.
 
According to Brett, a key to the Cuthberts’ success has been successfully anticipating trends and maintaining a diverse, regional customer base.
 
“The biggest thing is the ability to change …, to stay with the changing market and making sure we’re on the right path when that happens. To do that, we’re always changing our flower lineup and trying new things,” he said. “With the economy being down, people want to grow their own vegetables, so we’ve seen our vegetable numbers jump significantly.”
 
And to satisfy that residential, retail customer base, Cuthbert Greenhouse has opened a small retail store.
 
“We started a small retail shop out in front of the Groveport location, so after 50 years as a wholesaler, we’re on our third year of doing limited retail,” he said. “There is a trend of people staying home on their vacation time and beautifying their yards, so this helps us be a part of that.
 
“Also, the big push these days is about buying local. We support buying local ourselves and are getting involved with the Ohio Proud organization to further tout that.
 
“We really like working with our communities, being involved, and we’re proud to be here in Columbus,” he said.
 
For more information about Cuthbert Greenhouse, visit www.cuthbertgreenhouse.com.