Calloway's Nursery
Calloway’s Nursery is an independent Texas-based garden center founded by local nurserymen, Jim Estill, John Cosby, and John Peters. Calloway’s operates 17 stores in the Dallas and Fort Worth market and two stores in the Houston market. More than half of the company’s employees are Texas Certified Nursery Professionals.
History
Calloway’s opened its first store in the spring of 1987 in Richardson, Texas and by the end of that spring had opened three more stores in the Dallas area. Calloway’s continued to grow rapidly expanding into the Fort Worth market and entering the Houston market through an acquisition. In 1999, Calloway’s acquired Houston-based Cornelius Nursery.
Philosophy
Calloway’s Nursery offers advice from Texas Certified Nursery Professionals, educational store environments by facilitating weekly gardening clinics that serve both novice and expert gardeners, displays and instructions to aid gardeners with design and color development in their yards, and a diverse product selection of plant varieties.
Cornelius Nursery
In 1999, Calloway’s Nursery acquired all three Cornelius Nursery locations in Houston, Texas from Sterling Cornelius, who helped the Calloway’s founders get started in 1986 by allowing them to pattern the Calloway’s stores after the Cornelius stores. Because of this initial connection, the blending of the two companies was easily facilitated. Sterling Cornelius served on Calloway’s Board of Directors until his death in December 2003.
In the summer of 2008, the 50-year old Cornelius store at Voss Road was completely destroyed by fire. Fortunately, no employees or customers were harmed. Calloway’s is currently in the process of rebuilding that location to open in the fall of 2009.
Marketing
Calloway’s Nursery primarily advertised in print publications such as The Dallas Morning News, the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and the Houston Chronicle until 2005 when the Calloway’s management team decided to increase its marketing efforts. Today, the company not only advertises in traditional mediums such as newspaper, radio, and television, but also distributes direct mail, places online ads, and participates in various media such as MySpace, Twitter, FaceBook, and YouTube. Due to this new marketing direction, Calloway’s garnered the Marketing Innovator of the Year Award from Garden Center Magazine.
Calloway’s also provides a forum for local gardeners to swap ideas and information online via its mytexasgarden.com website. On this website, gardeners can also choose to join the Calloway’s and Cornelius Garden Club.
Branding
Calloway’s offers a line of private label products specially formulated for Texas gardeners that includes special mixes for planting flowers, trees, and shrubs. A selection of mulches and an extensive selection of plant-specific foods and fertilizers formulated for Texas soils are also included in this product line.
The Callie Select collection of annual flowers offers trial-tested plants that have performed in test gardens at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden. Callie select plants are grown at local nurseries and are offered at Calloway’s and Cornelius stores in larger, established sizes when the plants offer a prime presentation of color and foliage.
Events
Calloway’s Nursery provides free gardening clinics on Saturday mornings at all of its locations. The company periodically offers paid workshops. Each year Calloway’s offers free soil testing in January and February, free workshops for children in the summer, a festival in the fall, and an open house at Christmas.
Community
Calloway’s Nursery hosts an annual community sponsorship program to help support industry-related charities. Additionally, whenever a new location is developed, the company not only adheres to strict city regulations, but also attempts to preserve natural features. Calloway’s was commended for its preservation efforts by the city of Southlake when the company received the 2008 Development Excellence Award.