English Gardens is coming back to the neighborhood and with friendly, familiar faces!

For customer who loved the staff at Plymouth Nursery and our former Ann Arbor locations, we have good news. After acquiring Plymouth Nursery in December, English Gardens was able to retain many Plymouth Nursery employees, as well as employees from our English Gardens Ann Arbor store.

Kim Milewski, former General Manager of English Gardens Ann Arbor, is now the General Manager at English Gardens Plymouth Nursery. She was the operations manager at our Royal Oak store while we looked for a new location

“It’s been months of transitions for everyone while we get our store ready for our opening on March 1,” says Kim. “We are excited about meshing the knowledge and experience of the Plymouth staff with our English Gardens staff for a power-house team.”

Other English Gardens employees who have made the move to Plymouth include Greg Pizzino, Karen Carducci, and Tally Hayes. Greg was working in West Bloomfield, while Karen was a supervisor in Dearborn Heights. Tally is returning to our company.

Kim is excited to be back in the Ann Arbor/Plymouth area to “bring the band back together” so to speak. “We have some of the managers and staff from our Ann Arbor location returning and I couldn’t be happier. Adding to that the great mix of staff from Plymouth Nursery, it’s a win-win for everyone,” she says.

On the Plymouth Nursery side, Patti Small, former General Manager at Plymouth Nursery, is joining the team as Operations Manager for English Gardens Plymouth Nursery. After Jeff Jones, former owner of Plymouth Nursery sold the company, Patti was eager to continue the high level of service customers had come to expect.

“I enjoy seeing Plymouth Nursery in a different light. I have always liked to visit other garden centers and bring ideas back. Now I have the opportunity to help do that with English Gardens systems and programs at a Garden Center I have managed for seven years” Patti says.

Other familiar faces include:

• Cashiers: Matt Michuta; Naomi Rudolph; Julia Kaminski; Marymargaret Weeks; and Josie Zdun.

• Nursery Sales Associates: Jackie Cronce; Jim Whiting; Wanda Derico; and Leroy (Skip) Spiller.

• Bedding Plant Department Associates Amy Goodwin (now Department Sales Manager); Alyssa Kroll, and Anne Cini.

• Lynn Levigne from the Patio Department;

• Suzanne Bazner, former Front-end Supervisor; Devante Dedore from Loading and Maryann Nisley from House Plants all are staying on as English Gardens Plymouth Nursery employees.

English Gardens Plymouth Nursery has undergone a transformation since December. According to Kim, the store became a blank slate to fill with beautiful product to make their own. “Lots of emotions going on, with how things used to look and how they are all coming together now. I can’t wait for the customers to see everything we have accomplished in two months.”

Customers will be excited to see Plymouth Nursery style combined with English Gardens resources, Patti says. “This is a new chapter.”

Our expanded product lines in Patio Furniture, House Plants and the Garden Pharmacy are just a few of things customers can expect to see.

English Gardens also acquired Plymouth Nursery Landscape Company, and has retained several of the employees. John Mincher, Alex Goulet, Blake Mikolaiczik, Efrain Gonzalez, John Pittman and Gary Cole are all working at English Gardens.

Doors open at the new English Gardens Plymouth Nursery at 9 a.m. on Friday, March 1. Come by and say hello, we look forward to seeing you!