A moment of silence please for Stark Brothers Nursery in Louisiana, MO. According to the Pike County Press the venerable old nursery closed its doors on July 5, 2001 after 185 years of continuous operation (since 1816). Apparently, Clay Stark-Logan (the current Stark descendant that owned it) sold his ancestral legacy three years ago to some company that ran it into bankruptcy within three years. How absolutely sad for everyone--especially the nearly 600 employees who lost their jobs!!!! From the oldest nursery in North America to Chapter 11 in three short years! Good Lord, this was the nursery that introduced the 19th century world to the "Red Delicious" apple! I'm an amateur orchardist who has visited the nursery on occasion when visiting family in central Missouri. I will probably be in mourning for awhile. Maybe the Bankruptcy Court will find a buyer for this venerable old nursery.

-- Steve Nelson (alpine1@prodigy.net), July 30, 2001

Answers

This is terrible news I purchased 5 fruit trees from them this year and they are fully guaranteed, guess that doesn't apply when you go broke. I have purchased several trees over the years and i always found their products to be of the highest quality

-- Diane Brown (oleoranch3@aol.com), July 30, 2001.

Sure hope they will find a buyer for it... Stark's has been almost part of my family!

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), July 30, 2001.

I sure hope that others don't follow suit. It sure would be scary if we had to depend on Monsanto to get our future seeds/trees.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), July 31, 2001.

Boy, am I glad I didn't place the order I was thinking of placing!

Colleen, your right about Mosanto!

-- lew (lewr93@aol.com), July 31, 2001.

Spring Hill Nursery, in business for 150 years in Troy Ohio, is in the exact same boat - they were bought about the same time by the same company that bought Stark. I think Gurneys and several other long time seedsmen/nurseries have gone down the tubes as well, courtesy of these folks.

I can't help wondering, this company bought all these successful, moneymaking nurseries - and went bankrupt in three years??? Where the h*** did all the money go? Things that make you go, hmmmm ....

-- Sojourner (notime4@summer.spam), July 31, 2001.

Spring Hill Nursery, in business for 150 years in Troy Ohio, is in the exact same boat - they were bought about the same time by the same company that bought Stark. I think Gurneys and several other long time seedsmen/nurseries have gone down the tubes as well, courtesy of these folks.

I can't help wondering, this company bought all these successful, moneymaking nurseries - and went bankrupt in three years??? Where the h*** did all the money go? Things that make you go, hmmmm

Are they a shell company for one of the larger ones? Maybe they purchased them to "help" someone out. Get rid of the Heirloom products, and it's right up the big boys alley!

Lew

-- lew (lewr93@aol.com), August 01, 2001.

We purchased 2 fruit trees that were shipped to us from Stark Brothers this spring, probably from a related company. I’ll have to check.. it was via the internet.

They arrived pruned way back. To date the trees never did bud out, they still do not have any leaves.. they never did anything.

I called them, and they told me that they are fully guaranteed if they didn’t make it.

They said to give them till the end of the summer season to see if they make it.. now it appears that they are no longer around to back up the guarantee.

Please advise if you hear anything. We would like to receive replacement trees or a refund.

Thanks, Joe Bay Village, Ohio

-- Joe Krall (shadow7118@aol.com), October 16, 2001.

I heard that someone has bought Stark Brothers. They should be available to receive calls after November 1. They will not be shipping new orders until spring.

-- Ron Krach (rckrach@hotmail.com), October 17, 2001.

I purchased plum, pluot, grape, and pear trees this past Fall/Spring. All but the pear trees are fine but the pear trees need replacing. Unfortunately, the company seems to have disappeared even after the November 1 "we'll be back" message.

-- Bill Bardill (bbardill@mail.alumni.ecu.edu), November 28, 2001.

I can't tell you how weird this is! I received a gift certificate from my son Xmas before last. And, thus began one of the worst marketing experiences of my life. Unbelieveably late shipments, dead plants,"don't care" attitude on the part of the phone people to the point where I finally sent them an email asking "how can you possibly stay in business this way?" Now I know. Funny part is, I saw this message thread because I am giving a talk on marketing tomorrow (my business) and was going to mention this HORROR story as a prime example of how not to do business.Case closed.

-- John (jrwood97@aol.com), January 28, 2002.

I bought many things from Gurneys over the years and all grew well until I bought 5 trees from them in the Fall of 2000. All but one of them (a mulberry tree) died. I was supposed to get replacements - never did.

Anyway, I won't try to get replacementx, but will order the same thing again from the new Gurneys. Give the new owner a break! Hope he/she is a good person. It is difficult to build a "good" business anymore.

That's what you get when you sell a good business to some corporation. Suck it dry! No pride in the product line, just profit. I believe in Capitalism. That is the ONLY way the world works - for profit. but you have to want to make a good product, too. The new generations don't understand that. Just the "bottom line". The accountants wind up running things and their "vision" ends at the end of the profit column.

-- Bill Frankart (waf2000@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Anyone who is reading this - do you know what corporation had bought out Gurneys Nursery several years ago? I would like to look into their record via the Internet. I'd like to know more about them and their other businesses they have ruined (or not).

Is the 2002 catalog I received "good" or is it from the bankrupt company? The catalog looks EXACTLY like always w/o any mention of the new owner.

Use my E-Mail address waf2000@hotmail.com

-- Bill Frankart (waf2000@hotmail.com), January 28, 2002.

Bill, the company that originally bought Starks, Gurneys, et. al. was Foster & Gallagher Inc. of Peoria, IL.

John, The rude, could-care-less, phone people you suffered through were at the direct mail call center for Foster & Gallagher Inc. in Peoria, IL not the Stark folks in Louisiana, MO. Before Stark Bros was bought in 1998, they're customer service was beyond compare and their products we're always excellent and fully guaranteed. I put in a small orchard in 1996 and 1997 with Stark Bros nursery stock. I called back in 1998/1999 to work out a problem with a pecan tree not coming out of dormancy and you would've thought I was talking to a different company. In 1996, I was talking with nursery experts in Louisiana, MO and in 1998 I was talking to order takers with bad attitudes in Peoria, IL. Let's hope this all works out and that Starks is around for at least another 185 years. I bought 20 acres of southern Wisconsin this summer and just got my new catalog the other day. Guess what I'm going to be doing this weekend? Planning and ordering my Stark Bros orchard.

-- Steve Nelson (alpine1@prodigy.net), January 29, 2002.

As a lifetime resident of Northwest Arkansas, I've been a satisfied customer of Starks for over 25 years. The few problems I've had have been resolved quickly, courteously, & always to my satisfaction. I discovered this page of dialogue while search for Stark to I could order strawberry plants - am in shock! Their strawberry selection and quality of plants (always more roots than top!)was always without equal! Where will I find Stark's Ruby Red & Stark's Crimson Giant strawberries? Has anyone thought to contact the Missouri Attorney General with shared concerns?

-- Jane Mahan (j2bv@earthlink.net), February 17, 2002.

I found this clip on the internet. It is from around October,2001. Don't know if it is true, but it is worth looking into. Also, I received my Stark Brothers catalog yesterday. It looks like they are back.

http://henderson.ces.state.nc.us/newsletters/apple/01-10/3.shtml

"Yesterday while selling at the Griggsville Apple Festival (Griggsville, Illinois) I talked to folks I know who work for Stark Bros Nursery, They are back in business and have been budding trees. Bought out by GARDENS ALIVE, they will return as STARK BROS again. This is good news as they are close to me and have always provided the best in service."

Quote from: LEE ELLIOTT, owner, operator, picker, salesman, gofer, etc, etc, of APPLE HILL ORCHARD OF SCOTT COUNTY, ILLINOIS

-- John Endter (jendter@charter.net), February 28, 2002.

This spring I have been seaching for a Stark Bros. Cat' -- now after reading all the letters about what happened to SB -- I'm sick! I hope that there will be some kind of an investigation. In the mean time --- where is a good orchard to get a cataloge from?

-- Richard Deardorff (richarddeardorff@mail.wccards.k12.mo.us), March 04, 2002.

Got their catalog in the mail today.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), March 04, 2002.

Does any one have the phone number? I'd like to get a catalog.

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 04, 2002.

Threw away the catalog-but I think their website was starkbros.com or stark-bros.com

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), March 05, 2002.

I'm trying to help my father locate stark brothers nursery. The website is not available (starkbros.com) and I don't know a phone number to order a catalog, can anyone help me?

-- christy (miller13@lexcominc.net), March 22, 2002.

The phone # on the catalog is 1-800-325-4180

-- connie cain (cjcain@quixnet.net), March 24, 2002.

THANK YOU !!!!!

-- Thumper/inOKC (slrldr@yahoo.com), March 25, 2002.

Stark Bros was highly recommended by a local garden radio show here in Utah & we purchased two peach trees last spring. One upped & died after leafing out & we just called Stark two days ago. NO PROBLEM! Our replacement will be here in 7-10 days. :) We are happy. I wish other companies with their so-called "no hassle" money back or replacement garantees were as true to their advertisement. I Hate Burgess with a passion due to their misleading ways.

-- Netie (NetieMoody@hotmail.com), March 30, 2002.