Alameda Wholesale Nursery Catalog.pdf

HISTORY
The history of
ALAMEDA WHOLESALE
Stanley Brown Sr., our firm’s founder, started working for
Marshall Nurseries in Arlington, Nebraska in 1925 at the
age of 14. After working up to a landscape foreman he had
the responsibility of planting the designs of Gloria Rapp, who had
started her studies at Doane College in Nebraska, and later graduated
from Iowa State at Ames with a degree in Landscape
Architecture. Stan and Gloria were married November 2, 1940,
and moved to Denver the following month, where they would
begin work on the lawns and landscaping for the Lincoln Park
Housing Project, and later start a branch of Marshall Nurseries
in the spring of 1941.
In 1944 Stan left Marshall's and bought one square block at
the edge of town on a beaten gravel road (now known as West
Alameda Avenue and Canosa Court), and with the help of a partner,
Gilbert Pike, Stan Brown Sr. opened a retail nursery and
garden center. The partnership ended after a year, but the tiny
business continued to grow and prosper, with considerable credit
going to the inventiveness, creativity, and introduction of new
concepts to Denver such as packaged peat moss, African Violet
soil, and a liquid fertilizer truck for residential turf (called
“Green Rain,” it proved to be 30 years too soon). In 1950 Mount
Arbor Nursery sent a double order of Paul Scarlet roses, so Stan
bought tar-paper pots from Hasler Nursery in Kansas City, and
was the first nursery in the state to begin container-grown roses,
and later container-grown trees and shrubs in 5-gallon egg cans
collected from local bakeries.
In 1957 a farm at West Dartmouth Avenue and South Zuni
Street was purchased to be the growing field for “Denver’s
Garden Center” as it was then advertised. In 1962 the property
on West Alameda was sold and the garden center and nursery
were moved to 3160 S. Zuni St. After the flood of 1965 the retail
end of our business was dropped in order to concentrate on wholesaling.
The drop in volume was significant, but the nursery struggled
through with the idea that there was enough business in
supplying plants to landscapers and garden centers.
Stan Brown Jr. joined the business after leaving Colorado
State University in 1964 to work full time, and later was
joined by his brother Arnold after he left IBM in 1969.
The two sons worked their way up through the nursery and eventually
purchased the business from their father in 1975. Stan Sr.,
Stan Jr. and Steve have served as presidents of the Colorado
Nurserymen’s Association, and Stan Jr. has served as Denver
Chapter president and state board president of the Associated
Landscape Contractors of Colorado.
In 1992 Stan Brown Sr. passed away. In 1993 the nursery
moved to 1950 W. Dartmouth Ave., doubling the amount of land
available.
Many valuable employees have joined us over the
years including:
� Alan Clark - Started in 1977.
Sales, Evergreen/Broadleaf Container Manager
� Ron Brown - Started in 1978.
Head Mechanic, Perennial Manager
� Dave Hall - Started in 1982.
Yard Sales Manager, B & B Field Manager
� Scott Brown - Started in 1990. Inventory Manager
� Steve Brown -Started in 1995. Delivered Sales
In 2003 Arnold sold his shares back to the company. In 2004
Alan, Ron, Steve, Scott and Dave came on the Board of Directors
and became partners with Stan.
In more than 65 years of quality business and service Alameda
Wholesale Nursery has evolved from a small “growing nursery”
to one of the oldest and largest wholesale nurseries in Colorado.
FAX 303-761- 6132 ALAMEDA WHOLESALE Page 149