New facility set to open Sept.24

By Aliya Hall

Capital Press

Salem, Ore. — Massachusetts-based Griffin Greenhouse Supplies Inc. is making the move to the West Coast, opening a location in Salem, Ore., this month.

The distribution center is expected to open Sept. 24, and is bringing hard goods and retail products to match their broker presence for West Coast growers.

“Our sales presence in Oregon for a long time was through brokerage. We have a solid customer base and representation,” Tracey Gorrell, marketing communications lead for Griffin, said. “It was a natural fit to bring the next branch to where we already have that customer base and presence.”

Gorrell said the company is primarily known as an ornamental crop broker by the Pacific Northwest customer base, but the distribution center will provide access to the retail side, with which customers may be unfamiliar.

“Now they have access to supplies, equipment and retail products they couldn’t previously get,” she said. “They have access to things like poly film and containers, production supplies that are needed to produce ornamental products.”

For nursery retailers, the center will also sell gift and holiday supplies, as well as bird baths.

“The things we’re bringing to the West Coast are more than just plant material,” Gorrell said.

The company is leasing the 24,000 square-foot facility at 3315 Aumsville Highway SE in Salem, which will become Griffin’s 16th branch location, according to the company.

The new Oregon warehouse’s product mix will support both greenhouse growers and nursery owners.

“We understand (nurseries) are a significant segment in the Pacific Northwest,” Gorrell said.

Griffin will also supply specific items and vendors to cater to the needs and preferences of Pacific Northwest growers, such as HC Companies, T.O. Plastics, Premier Tech Horticulture, JR Peters, Syngenta and Lumite.

Gorrell anticipates the Salem branch will house around 1,500 different products when fully stocked.

Griffin has been a family owned business based in Tewksbury, Mass., for 71 years, specializing in greenhouse and nursery production and independent garden centers. In 2012, Griffin acquired Syngenta Horticultural Services that focused on national ornamental brokerage, distributing live goods such as seed, cuttings and young plants. As a national broker and distributor, the company’s annual sales exceed $200 million.

“The Oregon distribution center fulfills our longtime goal of achieving coast-to-coast coverage with all parts of our product offer,” said Craig Hyslip, chief operating officer at Griffin, in a press release.

The Salem location follows Griffin’s opening of an Aurora, Colo., facility in early 2017. The company also has locations in Connecticut, Illinois, Georgia, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Virginia.

“We’re looking forward to being a more full service resource to our existing customers, and hoping it will open new doors to customers we haven’t been able to adequately serve,” Gorrell said. “We’re interested in end-to-end solutions with this expansion, and we’re hoping to be a more valuable partner to the accounts in the Northwest.”