Al’s Garden Centers Celebrate 60 Years of Growing

In 1948 a gallon of gasoline cost 26 cents, Harry S. Truman was the President, and the movie “Easter Parade” with Fred Astaire and Judy Garland won an academy award. In 1948 you could also buy a pound of bananas for 10 cents from Al Bigej at Al’s Fruit Stand in Woodburn, Oregon. Al’s Fruit Stand was a scrubbed up chicken coop along Highway 99E, but it was also the beginning of a family business that would grow for 60 years and become one of the largest family owned and operated agricultural retail/grower businesses in the state. Al’s Garden Centers will celebrate 60 years in business in January of 2008.

What began as Al’s Fruit Stand operating out of a chicken coop now consists of 3 retail stores including a store in Sherwood that is state of the art, and one of a kind on the west coast; and 5 growing operations utilizing 700,000 square feet of greenhouse space and another 20 acres of outdoor production space, all still family owned and operated. You’ll find the Bigej grandchildren’s handprints pressed into the curb at the newest store in Sherwood. During peak season, Al’s Garden Centers employ over 240 employees, with skills ranging from a willingness to learn to being an internationally known grower whose expertise is sought by companies all over the world.

Al has since passed away, but his son, Jack Bigej has the vision for business and the enthusiasm for plants flowing in his blood. If you can’t find Jack in one of the stores or at the farm checking on the thousands of plants that will be growing at any one time, check in the field adjacent to the store, he might be mowing the lawn. He is as comfortable on the seat of tractor as he is receiving an award never previously given to a Garden Center on the entire west coast, (Garden Centers of America: Garden Center of the Year Award in 2005.) Jack never tires of a challenge and is constantly looking for what’s new in the Garden Center industry, fueled by a genuine love of plants and people.

Good planning and “doing the right thing” by the customer has driven Al’s Garden Centers sales volumes into the millions. Al’s rooting facility in Hubbard, Oregon roots one of the widest varieties of annuals in North America. Al’s greenhouses supply over 99% of the millions of annuals sold in Al’s stores, and nearly 79% of the quarter of a million perennials sold in Al’s Garden Centers. Jack Bigej credits Al’s Garden Center’s success to being nimble, and to being able to adjust to the needs and wants of customers. Come by Al’s Garden Center in Woodburn, Sherwood, or Gresham and see an Oregon family business that has sustained and thrived for 60 years. Be part of the celebration of 60 years of growing.