Tillsonburg Garden Gate is located at 167 Simcoe Street.
greenhouse in the Strathroy area while I was finishing my studies,” says Linda. “So when Matt and I had an opportunity to join a greenhouse operation after grad- uation, we decided to go for it.” “It just made sense at the time,” explains Matt. “My brother Dave was working for a wholesale flow- er business, my mom had grown up on a farm and with Linda’s background in retail, we felt we had enough experience to give it a shot.” They opened their first green- house—located between Tillson- burg and Aylmer—in 1997, and began providing wholesale flow- ers and plants to garden centres and big box stores throughout southern Ontario. “We soon found out there is very little profit margin in the wholesale business,” Matt says. “Each year we were having to sell products at lower and lower prices just to remain competitive.” On a more positive note, it
wasn’t long before the couple welcomed their first child, Thea, in 2003. “We decided we should add sleep deprivation to our list of on- going challenges,” laughs Matt, reflecting on the joys of father- hood. For the next several years, Matt and Linda soldiered on, investing
in both the retail and wholesale sides of their business. Then suddenly, in 2009, they noticed a sales spike. “When the Newman family retired from the flower business in Tillsonburg that year, the clo- sure of their store left a large hole in the market,” Matt explains. “After years of trying to do ev-
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