×

Greenhouses get green light to open

Jordan Beck | Daily Press Jan Tedlie, a volunteer at Tony’s Green Thumb, fills a bottle with hand sanitizer outside one of the business’ greenhouses Friday.

ESCANABA — Under recent changes to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s executive orders, a number of local businesses — including greenhouses in the area — were able to re-open on Friday, May 1.

For Chenier’s Greenhouse in Gladstone, co-owner Nick Chenier said learning his business would be able to open on May 1 came as a relief.

“We were ecstatic and relieved to hear that we were able to open,” he said.

Prior to the announcement of changes to the executive orders, the business had been hoping to open for the season in some capacity on that day.

Chenier said the lockdown had not affected his business’ growing schedule, which was set before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

“Plants are on schedule, and we’re ready to sell,” he said.

While most vegetable plants were still “a few weeks out” on Friday, Chenier said this is not abnormal. He said many local gardeners wait to plant these until after Memorial Day to avoid frost.

Chenier said the greenhouse was off to a strong start sales-wise in 2020.

“Today was the busiest opening day we’ve ever had,” he said.

Chenier’s has implemented a number of safety measures in response to the pandemic.

“We’ve widened our aisles; we’re using one-way directional shopping,” Chenier said.

Occupancy numbers are also capped at 16 people per greenhouse. As it is a large facility, Chenier’s can still accommodate up to 80 customers at a time under this setup.

“We are fortunate to have large greenhouses with many square feet to … allow customers safe distance while shopping,” Chenier said.

Chenier said other options are available for customers concerned about their safety, as well.

“We’re offering curbside (pick-up) if people still don’t wish to come in,” he said.

At Tony’s Green Thumb in Bark River, co-owner Caroline Picard said the lockdown did not end up conflicting with her business’ plans for the 2020 gardening season.

“We weren’t planning to open till May 1, anyway,” she said.

Tony’s was required to suspend sales to customers who wanted to purchase some items before the business’ official opening.

While the lockdown was in place, Picard said she was unsure of the impact it would have on her employees.

“We had to work with a limited workforce until we knew we could have a season,” she said.

However, Tony’s actually added employees in 2020 thanks to the introduction of its curbside pick-up service. The service was implemented in response to COVID-19.

“We had to bring on more people to handle it,” Picard said, noting the business now has its largest workforce ever.

Tony’s Green Thumb has also set up some other measures to ensure the safety of its customers. According to a post on its Facebook page, these include a requirement that customers wear masks (with masks available for shoppers who did not bring their own), the availability of hand sanitizer at the entrance and exit of each greenhouse, limitations on the number of customers in each greenhouse, a requirement that customers stay six feet apart, the regular sanitization of high-traffic areas and the availability of a hand-washing station.

So far, these efforts have paid off. Picard said the greenhouse was busy when it opened for the season Friday.

“We knew people would want to get out … and start planting their gardens,” she said.

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

Starting at $4.62/week.

Subscribe Today