Contact Details
Address: 63 Railway Avenue
Werribee, Vic 3030
Phone: (03) 9741-3100
Fax: (03) 9742-5356
E-mail: grevillea@21century.com.au
Please visit www.whereis.com to find us via map.
History of Grevillea Nursery
From Then…….To Now
Grevillea Nursery was started in 1972 in its current site in Railway Avenue by John and Lyn Simpson. John left the family electroplating business to start a nursery with his wife Lyn. They both had a love of growing plants, and starting a nursery was the next step. The nursery started modestly with half of the property allocated to growing, and the other half for retail sales with a crushed rock carpark in the centre separating the two areas. Wyndham was just starting to take off as a growth corridor of Melbourne , and the demand for plants was high, so the business took off.
During the 70's the business went from strength to strength. John employed a number of local people for sales in the retail side. A large number of inquiries on landscaping started another profitable side of the business and a landscaping crew started working on front and back gardens. The trend of the time was native plants such as gum trees and rocks and these gardens are still evident in the older areas of Wyndham today.
At the start of the 80's, Melbourne was in the grips of a terrible drought. The business started to decline with the introduction of water restrictions. People stopped gardening. John and Lyn had to cut back their staff and worked seven days a week themselves to keep the business alive. In 1983 and after Ash Wednesday fires the drought finally broke. People had to replace their entire garden so the business boomed again. It was so busy it was hard to keep up with stock in the nursery. It was at this time John and Lyn purchased another property in Tarneit Road to grow their own stock, and increase the retail site to double it's capacity. The carpark was moved to one end, and the old A-frame site office was replaced by a rustic mudbrick building.
The nursery industry noticed the effects of the recession in 1991. John's only daughter, Maree Planner (now the business Manager) started working for the business at this stage, after completing a science degree in horticulture from Burnley Horticultural College (now known as University of Melbourne – Burnley Campus). Maree brought new services to the business using current technology such as CAD garden design, Garden Imaging and Home Visits. Maree's husband Craig joined the business in 1994 and started the landscaping arm of the business. Grevillea Nursery were proud winners of a Wyndham Business Award in 2004 and has continued to grow and survive the many industry threats. Over the past thirty-four years, Grevillea has provided donations to many organisations including the Rotary Club, Werribee Park Golf Links, local schools, The Koala Committee (Balliang East and surrounding areas and also numerous charities. Grevillea has seen many changes, but the quality, service and professionalism remains the same. A Visual History
Grevillea Back then...
Grevillea After...
|
