August 19, 2016
CapitalPress.com
3
Dennis’ 7 Dees sets sights on growth Nursery industry rebounds from recession
Capital Press
Capital Press
Janae Sargent/Capital Press
David Snodgrass, owner of Dennis’ 7 Dees, says his family-owned
retail and landscaping business relies on the judgment of employees.
also looking to expand retail in
the future.
“I really like that we’re so
diversiied,” Snodgrass said.
“I enjoy all aspects of this in-
dustry.”
Growth has been a priority
for the company since it started
as a wholesale rhododendron
nursery in Portland in 1927.
As the company grew, so
did the family. When David’s
father, Robert Snodgrass, mar-
ried into the Dennis family,
took over the wholesale busi-
ness and had seven children,
all with names starting with
a “D,” the business oficially
adopted the name “Dennis’ 7
Dees.”
David Snodgrass irst
bought into the landscape di-
vision. When he took over in
1977, it was doing approxi-
mately $70,000 annually. He
said in 2005, revenues hit near-
ly $25 million.
In 2005 Snodgrass bought
out the brothers he was part-
nered with and brought in his
brothers, Dean and Drew, as
partners.
Snodgrass said family is
vital to the company’s success.
That includes both the imme-
diate family and the managers
and staff, which he calls the
extended family.
“We really encourage em-
powerment and growth from
within here,” Snodgrass said.
“We have people who have
worked here for 40 years and
family members of employees
working here, and I’m very
proud of that.”
As the nursery industry
continues to rebound from the
housing market crash of 2008,
those operations that survived
the recession are sometimes
struggling to meet the growing
demands of landscapers and
consumers.
Breanne Chavez, executive
director of the Washington
State Nursery and Landscape
Association, said the landscap-
ing industry is booming and
sales are up at retail businesses
but that the smaller number of
nurseries sometimes struggle
to meet the reinvigorated de-
mand.
Approximately 30 percent
of nurseries shut down during
the recession in response to
low demand and a lack of
homes being landscaped, she
said.
Josh Zeilinski, Oregon
Association of Nurseries vice
president, said the supply is
being built back up to meet the
renewed demand.
Zeilinski said the products
that are in the highest demand
right now are the ones grow-
ers decreased production of
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North American nursery in-
dustry will move toward the
European model in the future
— focusing on impulse-buy
plants that peak when they are
in the garden centers.
While he is concerned
about the pressure that puts on
growers who ship their plants
to keep them fresh and peak-
ing, he said it is a good bet to
ensure the industry remains
strong.
He also sees a future in
plants as gifts.
“If young people don’t
start buying houses, we need
to push the mindset of plant
buying toward gift-giving,”
Zeilinski said. “We need to
make people view plants in a
different way.”
Zeilinski and Chavez
agreed that it is exciting to
have a strong nursery market
again and that the industry will
continue to generate innova-
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David Snodgrass sees Den-
nis’ 7 Dees as a $50 million
company and said its man-
agers have developed a four-
year plan to meet that goal.
Growth, sustainability and
empowerment are the corner-
stones of the fourth-genera-
tion family-owned landscap-
ing, retail and maintenance
company that celebrates its
60th anniversary this year.
Owners of Dennis’ 7 Dees
recently challenged managers
to put together four-year plans
that set goals for their divi-
sions.
Snodgrass, the president,
said the company is on track
to meet the plan’s irst-year
goal.
Dennis’ 7 Dees is split into
four divisions: retail, com-
mercial bid build construc-
tion, residential design build
and maintenance services.
Snodgrass said the bid
build work has steadily in-
creased and is doing well and
that he would like to see the
maintenance division experi-
ence more growth.
The retail division of the
Portland-area company is still
recovering from the drop in
big projects after the housing
market recession that began
in 2008, but Snodgrass said he
has seen a turnaround. He is
during the recession. Japa-
nese maples, hedge material
and landscaping products are
rebounding with the renewed
focus on homebuilding.
Chavez said annuals, low-
ers and hanging baskets stayed
strong and continue to be con-
sistently popular. She added
that kitchen gardens, herb gar-
dens and edibles kept the in-
dustry going when demand for
large plant products was down.
The concept of an urban
“farm” — backyards with
chickens and vegetable gar-
dens — has also gained in
popularity.
Alongside the concept of
urban farms, sustainability and
plants that attract pollinators
such as honeybees have be-
come more popular.
“Edibles do really well
with young people,” Zeilinski
said. “I wouldn’t say they are
increasing because they have
held really steady.”
Zeilinski said he thinks the
D16-41#T1D
By JANAE SARGENT
By JANAE SARGENT