Gardner's Supply Turns a New Leaf Under Indiana Ownership
New owner Gardens Alive! has confirmed it will continue to operate five of the six retail garden centers.
Beloved Vermont institution Gardner's Supply Company has been acquired by Gardens Alive!, a national direct-mail and online gardening company based in Indiana. The $9 million deal, finalized on August 8, 2025, marks a pivotal new chapter for the company, ensuring the survival of its popular retail brand while fundamentally changing its structure and ending its celebrated run as an employee-owned business.
The acquisition presents a mixed outcome for the community and the company itself, balancing the preservation of most retail jobs and locations against the closure of key Vermont-based support facilities and the painful loss of local control.
A Lifeline for a Struggling Company
Before the acquisition, Gardner's Supply was facing severe financial distress, culminating in a bankruptcy filing. According to reporting from Seven Days, the company's challenges were multifaceted. A post-pandemic slump in sales hit the gardening industry hard, and Gardner's Supply was not immune. Compounding the issue was a "problematic" and expensive new software system rollout that created significant operational friction.
Furthermore, the very structure that made the company unique—its Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)—had become a financial burden. The debt associated with the ESOP, combined with the other pressures, led to the company's line of credit being revoked, making the sale to an outside buyer a necessary step to avoid total liquidation. From this perspective, the acquisition by Gardens Alive! acted as a crucial lifeline, preventing the complete disappearance of the Gardner's Supply name from the landscape.
The Go-Forward Plan: A National Strategy
Gardens Alive! brings a new, national strategy to the Vermont brand. A key component of their plan involves centralizing logistics to improve efficiency. In a move aimed at creating "more scalable logistics and faster shipping," all distribution operations will be moved from the Milton, VT warehouse to a larger, existing facility in Ohio.
For customers and local gardeners, the most visible part of the business will remain largely intact. Gardens Alive! has confirmed it will continue to operate five of the six retail garden centers, including the flagship store in Williston, the location at Burlington's Intervale, and stores in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The employees at these retail locations are expected to keep their jobs, preserving a vital connection between the company and its community. This move ensures that the Gardner's Supply retail experience, a staple for many regional gardeners, will continue.
The Local Cost of the Transition
However, the strategic changes come at a significant local cost. Several Vermont-based facilities have been deemed redundant under the new national model. The seasonal garden center in Shelburne will not reopen, and both the customer service call center in Burlington and the distribution warehouse in Milton have been permanently closed.
These closures resulted in the layoff of approximately 40 Vermont employees. According to reports from Seven Days, these layoffs were abrupt, with affected staff receiving little notice and no severance pay, a difficult blow for the former employee-owners. This aspect of the acquisition highlights the starkest trade-off in the deal: while the brand survives, its local footprint and role as a Burlington-based employer have been significantly diminished.
A Different Company, A Familiar Name
The Gardener's Supply of the future will be a different entity from the one Vermonters have known for decades. The transition away from local, employee ownership to a subsidiary of a national corporation is a profound change. Yet, the acquisition has also ensured that the Gardener's Supply retail stores will remain a resource for gardeners. The new ownership model offers the potential for greater efficiency and stability, even as it closes the book on the company's cherished employee-owned past.