So long Smith & Hawken, it was nice while it lasted

The Smith & Hawken website says it all-

"Thank you for 30 wonderful years in the garden."

For those of us who knew S&H back when it was that neat little store in Mill Valley with the wonderful gardening tools, Wednesday was a sad day.

That's when we heard the news that S&H was going out of business after nearly 30 years.

The perennially hip gardening biz began with two guys; Dave Smith and Paul Hawken who, sensing the market for burgeoning outdoor lifestyle, began selling well-made, attractive gardening tools.  Their trowel became their iconic symbol.

But time went by, the founders sold the business and S&H traded hands before eventually winding up being owned by, of all things, corporate giant Scotts Miracle-Gro Company based in Ohio.  According to the Marin IJ, that move was the antithesis of what the original founders wanted and one of them even encouraged customers not to patronize the S&H brand anymore.  Still, Scotts believed they had a winner with S&H and even opened newly remodeled mega-stores as late as 2006, including the one in Strawberry.  S&H products even appeared in Target stores. But former devotees say the move away from the core business of gardening tools, and into the home decoration market, was the death knell in the dwindling economy.

S & H employees were hoping for a miracle in the form of a buyer as late as Tuesday, even as liquidators were closing in on its nearly 60 stores here in the U.S.  The company- based in Novato- employs about 100 people in Marin between the headquarters and the retail store, and about 6,400 workers worldwide.

Comments

[Karla]

That's too bad. I must say that I liked the small store in Mill Valley better, though. It got too big and impersonal.

[MoreMarin]

Karla

We couldn't agree with you more.

[DW]

Even Miracles Can't Make em Gro, KEEP'em small and they will benefit us all!

[steph zervas]

I was just at the Burlingame store yesterday (Weds. afternoon) and there was no sign that they would be going out of business. No wonder the guy called me two days in row to pick up my order. Very sad.

[Michelle]

I love S & H but their prices are not competitive. In a time of competitive pricing in a challenging economy, not making that adaptation leads to this.

[greasesicle]

I remember 20 years ago they had unique clothing. I bought the canvas pants and the hi top shoes.

[Debbie]

I lived in Mill Valley and remember them moving into what then the "unknown garage" on Lovell Avenue and a portion of a neighbor's yard for their nursery items. It was a wonderful, friendly place and I was quite fond of their products. When they moved from there and became a big business I think they lost their roots and became just another upscale Marin company. Sad to say good by to them.

[troublebunny]

It was a great brand in its day...and the tools and garden furnishings, though pricey, were far better than the disposable crap sold at most gardening centers. But what pains me even more than Scott's running a fine brand into the ground, is that few people seem to remember that S&H was one of the earliest adopters of the philosophy that corporations should contribute to their communities and respect the environment (hence the involvement with community garden projects and the focus on high-quality sustainable woods and well-made products that won't end up in the landfill after a season in the garden). Paul Hawken literally wrote the book on that mindset. Scotts threw all that out the window, too.

[Terry]

I wonder what will replace them at that nice location in Strawberry Village.

[Jimbo]

I am sad. S&H is where I bought most of my garden tools. They are works of art. I recently bought a Haws watering can and Hunter rubber boots. Not only is it hard to find these high-end brands elsewhere, I can't bring myself to shop at Target or Home Depot now that S&H is gone.

[Warren Jones]

I didn't know Scotts bought them but I knew something was up when I noticed a change in their products. When they began they were committed to selling environmentally friendly products but at a certain point they stated selling not so earth friendly products (must have been when Scott's bought them) and that's when I decided to stop shopping there.

[Jeff]

I wish that I knew more of the actual business side of this story. Why close it all down? Why not close a few stores and keep the most profitable ones going? How well is the catalog division doing? What items are selling best? Rebuild the company around those items? It seems a shame - and ultimately a bad business decision - to just toss away a well-known and well-liked brand name. Someone smart should buy the rights to the name and relaunch the brand to make it more plant-focused than decor-focused. As someone said before - with I hope the proper irony - S&H should return to its roots.

[Andrew]

I just got way to expensive. Nice products they sold, but it was too limited and expensive. I would imagine the next comany to go will be sloat (for the same reasons).

[Karl O.]

Sad perhaps, but oh so inevitable --

For a region steeped in the notion of sustainability, how can we miss the point?

S&H sold attractive but grossly over-priced basic gardening tools, knick-knacks and furniture. A concept that was workable in a flush economy, but bound to fail in this one. Read: Not A Sustainable Business Model.

In a word - another failed yuppie enterprise that charged way too much for way too little. Like real estate, the stock market and other greddy business models, it went splat. The good news: S&H helped in its own small way to make gardening trendy and helped people reconnect to the earth and its gifts.

Mt Tam

[rw]

No, I don't think we can write this one off as a failed yuppie enterprise. I think we can chalk it up to the same brilliant MBA management that brought us Lehman Brothers and the rest of the financial crisis. This is just another manifestation of the same failure of big corporate management. As I tell my kids over and over, "This mess was made by people educated at Harvard and Wharton and Stanford and Berkeley who thought they were smarter than the rest of us."

[Dennis Morgan]

Now I will have to leave Burlingame to buy "Renee's Garden" seeds, as S&H is the only local place to sell them. I remember Paul Hawken back in 1970, just after we opened "New Age Organic Produce" in San Jose, CA. He was way ahead of what was happening then, was a strong member of the Organic Community.
Dennis Morgan

[BobN]

While I understand the feelings of the previous owner and founder, anyone who sells to corporate America and expects them to continue the operation as though it weren't part of corporate America is, well, foolish.

If you want it to continue as you built it, keep it. If you don't want to do that, just walk away. You won't like what you see if you look back.

[JB]

Who cares? Corporate greed being corrected by the market, or something like that... good riddance to another useless retail chain. Now quit crying in your nostalgia soup, and go help your community by buying from local independent businesses.

[R. B.]

We loved the small Mill Vally store in its early days on Lovell. There was a woman named Sarah who was responsible for bringing many English garden plants and propagating them to be sold in the smalll nursery. Many had not been introduced in California before her efforts. Many have since become garden staples at most Northern California nurseries.

One of my favorite stories though was one day when I was in that small nursery and looked down under their wooden plant tables and there growing everywhere were wild morels, one of my all time favorite wild mushrooms. I went back into the store and asked Sarah if she knew they were there and she said she did. She asked me if I wanted them, and I said yes, of course. I quickly borrowed a bag and went out and picked all I could find and that night we dined thanks to Sarah on the treat of wild morels.

[Leslie Stompor]

I guess some of you will hate me, but I LIKED that they had stuff at Target! I couldn't make it to an S&H location (do they even exist in the Chicago area, where I live now?), but could stroll down one aisle of memory lane at Target.

The Stanford Shopping Centre location was my local store when I lived in the Bay Area...

Ridiculously priced furniture, but lovely accessories and books and such. I still use the straw gardening hat every time I leave the house! (Well, except winter! Ha ha!)

Does anyone remember garden.com? They were bought by Perkins, I believe, and went nowhere. Another loved brand left to whither...

[SMS]

I am so sad that S&H went downhill. I was their catalog designer for over 8 years, the Mill Valley Corporate office, the school, then Hamilton. I was very proud of the company way back then. They were never the same without Paul.

[Beth]

Well something a lot of you seem to be over looking is that Dave Smith and Paul Hawken took their money and ran. THEY SOLD THE BRAND FIRST THEY LET IT HAPPEN! They should of had the sense to see if they could sell it so could someone else. Don't you dare say Scott's ran this company into the ground cause that is just not the case they have been pouring money into the company for the past five years! Trying to save the brand they have helped to evlove into a wonderful place to work. Everything has to change its how live goes on.......

[Target-Addict]

For all you Target snobs: the S&H line at Target is actually really-good quality and well-priced. And frankly, it's the only way I've been able to purchase Smith & Hawken. The prices in their retail stores are just WAY too inflated. I really hope that Target finds a way to license the name and keep their budget-line of S&H.