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Me Hi. My name's John Shelley and I'm your host today. Welcome to my place. Born December 2, 1949 in York (PA), I'm 58 now and don't feel a day over 75 (ha!), considering the construction of this Garden Center & Nursery, and its 10-15 hour days for over 17 years. (Is your finger moving to the "back" button on your browser yet?) I moved back to York after living in the midwest, north, south, east; well, almost everywhere but here. I grew up in Arlington Heights, Illinois, attended nearby Prospect High School, graduated (much to everyone's relief) and spent four years at Drake University in Des Moines and graduated with a B.S. Journalism; a double major in Marketing and Advertising. I partied-hardy at Woodstock in 1969 (those were the days...). I spent many years (and many dollars) restoring, rebuilding and driving exotic and rare sports cars. I particularly enjoy gourmet cooking (I am also a chef), good food and fine wines. I did have a very extensive wine collection, but since moving away from NYC, it's difficult to find quality replacement stock, so trips to NYC/Baltimore/Philly are de rigeur, now. I spent 17 years on Madison Avenue in New York City in advertising with the world's best ad agencies/corporations, on both sides if the desk, doing some really great work and having lots of fun, while living in Hillsborough, NJ. My favorite restaurant in NJ: Espo's, in Raritan, NJ. Some of my work is still on TV and in print today. Until, in 1989 at age 39, I burned out, quit and went to work at a local, large greenhouse operation, for peanuts-$, to learn the horticulture business. I learned so much (it's been said that I possess a near-photographic memory) so quickly, I decided that I wanted to start a unique, medium-sized, Garden Center & Nursery operation, quite unlike the run-of-the-mill operations that are so prevalent everywhere. And I did. The rest is history. There were so many jobs and tasks to do. In May, 1990 we started excavation on Rt 24, just below Winterstown in a cornfield and construction lasted 10 long months. We worked all through the Winter of 1990 and opened the doors here on March 15, 1991. It was a monumental effort and I had a lot of help from a few good people. That year, the national economy took a sharp dive and a drought ensued from the start of Spring and lasted into Fall. It was a real tough time on everyone. Surely, better days would come. Well, they have and we haven't looked back since. But there was something missing: I had a cat in my logo, but none on-site. Just after we opened, I was visiting another nursery in nearby New Park, when I spotted a 6-7 week old black and white kitten that someone had thrown (according to the nursery owner, Jan Pickel) from their car, one day. He was a mess: full of worms, fleas, dirty, emaciated, an infected eye, and very helpless. I brought him back, took him to the vet and cleaned him up, named him Pickle. Despite heavy doses of antibiotics, his eye continued to be so badly infected, that it ruptured. We rushed him back to the vet, and his eye was removed and sewn shut. He became Pickle The One-Eyed Cat. He patrolled the complex daily and was the best damn hunter and mouser I'd ever seen. Children just loved him, and demanded that their parents bring them back to see Pickle several times every year. Actually, it was always Pickle's Garden Center & Nursery; we just worked there. My little friend and companion, Pickle, is gone now, after 15 good years, so I put together some pictures of his life, and that sad week's Journal entry of the final days of his life. Enjoy. This Garden Center & Nursery has been wildly successful since day one. There were over 3-4,000 people from 5 states at The 1991 Grand Opening, and it's gotten busier with each succeeding year. We've been a major player in the industry since opening, and now lead everyone in service, selection and product. A very nice feeling. But it came at the expense of working 18-20 hours each day, 7 days a week for 17-plus years. Check out some pictures of me, Pickle, and some of the sights around the Garden Center. With all the gardening -related questions that I get either on the phone or wherever I go, I put up a new section called FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). Check it out and see if some of your questions are answered here. If not, send me some mail and I'll put your question(s) and corresponding answer(s) up for others to learn from. Perhaps the main reason this Garden Center & Nursery has been so successful is the marketing and advertising; we bring people in from over 17 states on a regular basis. And the ads are very unusual and highly-collectible for their rich and diverse content and graphic appeal. The other reason for our success is the huge range of plant material we feature: more varieties of perennials than all the other garden centers and nurseries in the area combined. The diversity and numbers of plant material, are staggering to even the most ardent gardener and horticulturalist. No other garden center, nursery or mass merchandiser even comes close to what we offer. Come by for a visit soon and see what I mean. I'll leave the light on. ©1996 - 2007. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery, Inc. 13579 Winterstown Road, Felton, PA. 17322-8522 vox: (717) 246-1414 or 1-800-828-3405 (Pa-Md) fax: (717) 246-2170 Last updated 2/13/07. 29,243,503 visitors since 1/26/96.