Breaking News: Sept. 1997, TruGreen-ChemLawn Targets Interior Market

The Memphis-based company assumes control of Orkin’s 22 lawn care branches, and perhaps more importantly, the deal doubles TruGreen-ChemLawn’s interiorscape operations by adding Orkin’s 10 facilities.

"In two years, we have gone from not being in the interiorscape industry to being the undisputed number two in the United States," affirmed Dave Slott, president.

Slott didn’t give specific plans for continued growth in this market, but he didn’t hide the fact that it’s a priority for the company. "We don’t feel we’re number two in anything. We’re in business to compete, and you can read into that what you want," he pronounced. "We see the interior industry as very fragmented at this point, similar to lawn care six or seven years ago."

"We see a synergistic relationship between the inside/outside strategy, because that’s often the same decision maker you sell to," he continued. "We’ve been pleased with the 13 or 14 acquisitions we’ve completed in this market over the past few years, but this deal gives us a national network to build from with offices in the Southeast and on the West Coast."

As for lawn care, Slott said the Orkin branches fall predominantly in the southeastern area of the country and are all located in cities where TruGreen-ChemLawn had offices.

"We see this an opportunity for expansion," he explained. "Fortunately, we had capacity in our facilities to absorb Orkin’s fleet, employees and customers, and we hope to create some economies of scale for ourselves."