Scottsdale-based Moon Valley Nurseries is on a growth surge, aiming for a national presence with annual revenues projected to breach the $400 million mark. As reported by ABC15, the company, after launching new locales in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Nashville, is now targeting Georgia and North Carolina for its latest expansion.
With its entrance into Georgia slated for sometime in the second to third quarter of this year, and with two spots pegged for North Carolina, CEO Brian Flood confessed to not having definitive dates for the North Carolina openings. "We're excited about Florida, Georgia and Tennessee and continuing to expand in those states," Flood said in a statement obtained by the Business Journal.
The enterprise, already with more than 2,200 workers across 19 farms and 47 retail locations, is not just looking at these states. According to a Business Journal interview, Oklahoma is also on Flood's radar. Amid this geographic spread, 85% of Moon Valley's client base is retail, with the rest comprising homebuilders, architects, and landscapers.
Eying a revenue goal of $1 billion in the next five years, the company has been vigorously hiring following a sizeable financial infusion. Moon Valley Nurseries secured $775 million in financing from Stonecourt Capital LP, as per details Flood shared with the Business Journal, saying, "As we grow geographies, we'll have to hire more people." Much to the admiration of business circles, these expansions continue to be self-funded, a policy in place even before Stonecourt Capital's acquisition of the nursery.
Before pivoting to the plant business in 2006, Flood was a loan officer. A day that saw him lose his job in finance, found Flood switching gears and joining Moon Valley. Telling his narrative, Flood recalled, "When the collapse happened, I didn't have a job. Literally, that same day, I was dressed up in a suit and tie as a loan officer and walked in to the Tatum location to apply and got a job. The first year I was top sales rep in the company and moved through the business," Flood told the Business Journal.
