Shrewsbury Nurseries To Close | 16-acre site along busy Route 9 on the market
PHOTO/EILEEN KENNEDY
Robin and John Lebeaux, brother and sister owners of Shrewsbury Nurseries, have decided to close the business, started by their father Reuben, and sell the land.
John and Robin Lebeaux are closing their business, Shrewsbury Nurseries, and putting the land, which sits prominently along Route 9, on the market.
“Running a small business is tough. Running an agricultural small business is tough. And running an agricultural small business in New England is tougher still,” John Lebeaux said during a recent tour of his property.
Family Roots
The nursery business was started in the late 1940s, when their father Reuben Lebeaux convinced his father to let him use the far end of the family farm, which originally was more than 200 acres, stretching to Fruit Street and Route 9.
It’s across the highway from the Shrewsbury Village shopping center that includes a Christmas Tree Shoppes.
The farm itself was owned by the Lebeaux family beginning around 1910, but was sold off a number of years ago.
The siblings have run
the nursery business for the last 12 years or so, since their father became ill and was semi-retired.
It was not only in the family a long time; they had employees who had been with them for decades, one as long as 40 years, and a number of others between 20 and 30 years.
“We’re going to miss them, they were part of our family,” said Robin Lebeaux.
After their father died and the economy seemed to go into free fall starting last summer, the siblings began talking about what their future held.
The poor business climate, combined with estate tax issues and no one in the family’s third generation wanting to carry on the business, all helped them make up their mind.
“We were going to sell the business in 2011 or 2012, but in light of our current situation, we’ve sped it up,” John Lebeaux said.
This spring they announced the business would close once the existing plants are sold off and they’ve put the 16 acres on the market.
“Its highest and best use is likely not going to be another garden center for a variety of reasons,” he said.
Citing competition from big box retailers and competition for consumers’ discretionary money, they doubt another nursery would be interested.
There has been intermittent interest from potential buyers for the property, they said.
“It’s a great location. Over the years we’ve had dozens and dozens of inquiries, but we were always happy with what we were doing,” John Lebeaux said.
The property has a landmark that can’t be missed — a huge 250-year-old white oak tree.
It was one of at least four such trees at one time, and the Lebeauxes hope that the remaining tree is somehow incorporated into the property by whatever company eventually buys it.
“As a kid, I can remember there being three of the four trees,” he said.
His father said one came down when the state was putting in Route 9, then referred to as the turnpike, John Lebeaux said.
If the tree doesn’t remain standing, the Lebeaux family would like to do something with the timber.
The Lebeauxes have managed to save the tree, which was diseased for a number of years, through the help of an arborist.
The Lebeauxes seem resigned that the nursery business is at an end.
“We’ve heard from a lot of people about how sad they are that we’re closing, but things change. Everything has a beginning, middle and an end, and this is the end for the nursery. I’m actually excited about the possibility of doing something different even if I don’t know yet what it is,” John Lebeaux said.
Robin Lebeaux is a little less sanguine about the closing of the business. “I tell people right out..maybe if you had shopped here we wouldn’t be going out of business,” she said.
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