Shemin Nurseries Celebrates 50 Years

DANBURY, Conn. – Shemin Nurseries, a wholesale distributor of horticultural and landscape products, is celebrating its 50^th year in business.

Founded by Emanuel “Manny” Shemin in October 1955 in Greenwich, Conn., Shemin Nurseries now operates 30 landscape supply centers in the east and Midwest. Shemin Holdings Corp., Shemin Nurseries’ parent company, also operates 42 United Green Mark irrigation supply centers in the west.

Manny founded Shemin Nurseries after his survice during the Korean War where he gained experience with the military commissary system. This demonstrated the practicality of having a “one-stop shop” for everything someone might need. This, and the fact that Manny’s father operated a retail nursery in Bronx, N.Y., combined to provide the spark that got Shemin Nurseries started.

Manny realized that the key to success would be providing the right mix of products to his customers. There were businesses that handled individual product lines, but none that provided a mix aimed at helping the small to mid-sized contractor efficiently obtain everything they needed. Manny correctly assumed this would set Shemin Nurseries apart.

From the beginning, Manny took great pride in helping his customers grow their businesses. Up until the 1950s, most landscape contractors had been working on large estates. As people moved to the suburbs, small landscape firms appeared to service this newly developing market. From the introduction of new plants shipped in from across the country, to training in business-related issues like bidding, to letting contractors bring their customers to the nursery, Shemin Nurseries helped smaller contractors compete and grow.

Manny also worked with growers to buy in quantity and passed these saving on to his customers. “Quantity discounts were a new concept for growers who were used to selling in lots of five or ten,” says Manny. “By explaining the ‘one-stop shop’ concept and the fact we’d be buying in larger and more efficient quantities for them, they soon came to value the relationship as much as our customers.”

Manny Shemin, now 75, is still a member of the Shemin Nurseries board of directors. CEO Steffan Burns said his knowledge, experience and insights are still as valuable now as they were when Manny establish the landscape supply industry in 1955.