Nelson — The four corners of Nelson has become a hub of business activity, with a new coffee roaster, nanobrewery, cigar shop and restaurant either in place or coming in 2016 — and now, just around the corner on Erieville Road, Spruce Ridge Landscape and Design is opening a new garden center and florist in the former Brookside Greenhouse location.
“We’ve done the farmers market for the past three years, growing perennials and plants, and that has done really well, so we thought about expanding to become a garden center here,” said Amanda Kogut, who, along with her husband Jon, owns and operates Spruce Ridge Landscape and Design, and who will be in charge of the garden center. Amanda has a degree in horticulture and landscape design and previously managed a garden center in Syracuse.
Brookside was in business at its location at 4004 Erieville Road since the 1940s, when it was first started by Ralph and Agatha Krumenacker. The Krumenackers sold the business to Oakley and Olga Olcott in 1973, who ran it until their son Roger took it over. The Brookside property went for sale after Roger Olcott decided to retire, and the Koguts closed on the property this past December.
“For the past five years, there has been a florist at Brookside; we didn’t know that, and it came with [the property],” she said. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the floral [aspect] and we are keeping it going.”
While the new business, to be called Spruce Ridge Landscape and Garden Center, is currently selling flowers, the building itself is far from complete, and will need massive renovations before it is done. The interior of the building is currently being gutted and revamped, and the main sales space in the front will be enlarged, Amanda said. Of the seven greenhouses on the property when the Koguts purchased it, four will be torn down and three will be restored and used, she said.
continued — “It will take three years ultimately to be where we want to be,” Jon said.
The Koguts immediately began selling Christmas trees and wreaths out of their new building last December, and they are currently selling flowers out of the space, even though their grand opening is not expected to occur until April or May, Amanda said. When it is ready, Spruce Ridge Landscape and Garden Center will offer typical garden center items such as fountains, benches, birdbaths, pottery and trellises; annuals and perennials, shrubs, potted trees and bulk mulch; and every other type of garden center good. “Plants will be a huge part of it,” Amanda said.
In addition to the new garden center endeavor, the Koguts also plan to move their Spruce Ridge Landscape and Design business to the Erieville Road building from their current Francis Road location, Jon said. The new building renovation will include space for the Spruce Ridge Landscape and Design office to be located within.
“It’s exciting — it is a big undertaking,” Jon said.
“We’re excited to be a part of the Nelson Corners revitalization,” Amanda said. “I think it will be great.”
While the Koguts did not purchase the old Brookside business, just the property, they plan to honor and utilize the longtime former business by adding the Brookside name to their business signage, which will say “Spruce Ridge Landscape and Garden Center at Brookside.”
“Because it had really been here so long we’d be foolish to take away from that,” Amanda said. “We’re really excited to bring it back to life.
The telephone number for Spruce Ridge Landscape and Garden Center store will be the same as the former Brookside number, 655-3500. People can also contact the Koguts at the current Spruce Ridge Landscape and Design number of 655-2477 or via their website at spruceridgelandscape.com.
