Johnson's Garden Centers runs two Wichita retail stores, a production facility and a landscape distribution center, in the fourth generation of the family that started it as a truck farm in the 1920s.

© Johnson's Garden Center

From truck farm to garden center
The business began when Jeremy Johnson's great-grandfather arrived in the Wichita area. "He started a truck farm, and had a little stand to sell," says Jeremy Johnson, President of Johnson's Garden Centers in Wichita, Kansas. As Wichita expanded and interest in gardening grew, the operation moved from produce into plants and supplies, and by the late 1950s and early 1960s it had established the retail location that still anchors the business. Greenhouses followed and production expanded, with each generation adding to what the previous one built. "It feels good that we've been able to survive, thrive, and adapt, and change," Jeremy says.

Two operations on different clocks Johnson's serves retail customers and landscape professionals locally, across Kansas and beyond, through the two stores, an online shop, the production facility and the landscape distribution center. "We've been somewhat strategic in adding any locations," Jeremy says. Some sites became long-term fixtures and others were phased out when they did not deliver, and testing an expansion before committing to it is what has kept the footprint at a size the business can run without overextending. The two halves of the operation also run at different rates through the year. "We're heavily dependent on good weather on the weekends," Jeremy says. Retail peaks hard in spring and swings with conditions, while landscape distribution moves at a steadier rate across the calendar, and the combination lets the company absorb a lost spring weekend without the season going with it.

© Johnson's Garden Center

What the store carries "We've done a television show for probably 30, 35 years," Jeremy says. Three decades of broadcast alongside years of radio programming built regional recognition well outside the two store catchments, and the assortment is where the business separates itself once customers are through the door. "We try to offer a unique assortment, not just the mundane," Jeremy says. The range runs across houseplants, seasonal crops, tools and holiday products. "They want a 'set it and forget it' mentality," Jeremy says. Customers arriving with that expectation have shaped both what Johnson's buys and what staff recommend, weighting the selection toward plants that perform without close attention.

Planning the next season from the last one Production planning begins on the retail floor, where the team reviews each season once it closes. "What did we run out of? What do we need more of?" Jeremy says. The review feeds directly into the following cycle, so the crop plan is built from what actually sold rather than from what was forecast. "Our growers do a good job of scouting before problems arise," Jeremy says. Catching a problem before it establishes keeps it out of the weeks when the retail floor is busiest and the growing team has least capacity to react. "It's not easy work… you still have to come in," Jeremy says.

© Johnson's Garden Center

Growing media and biologicals
"We want a quality, consistent product mix," Jeremy says. Johnson's runs PRO-MIX growing media integrated with AGTIV biologicals across its production. "We saw just a huge increase in quality and way less instances of root rot," Jeremy says, referring to the years since the operation moved to biologicals. Fewer root disease events across a season reduce what the team has to react to during the busiest weeks. The same inputs reach landscape customers, and according to Premier Tech the AGTIV technologies supporting root development and establishment give contractors stronger plant performance in the ground and fewer callbacks. "That initial survivability is key," Jeremy says. The company does not push the technology on the retail floor. "It's just having a quality plant that people are going to succeed with," Jeremy says.

© Johnson's Garden Center

Running it as a team Johnson's remains a family business, with Jeremy's father Marty Johnson as owner, and Jeremy runs it on delegated authority. "I expect people to make decisions as if they are owners," Jeremy says. Decisions taken at the point they arise are what allows a two-store operation with its own production and distribution to hold together through a spring peak. "We're kind of all Johnson's working together," Jeremy says.

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