Customer Profile

MICHAEL'S NURSERY | GLENMORA, LA

A weaker man than Michael Goree might have thrown in the towel by now.

By Traci Pitman

First there was Hurricane Laura, one of several hurricanes that slammed into the U.S. during 2020’s exceptionally busy hurricane season. Laura caused $17.5 million in damage in Louisiana alone, including all of the gutter connected greenhouses at Michael’s Nursery in Glenmora, LA, a company Goree started in 1984.

Then came the February 2021 winter storm that swept across the country, blanketing southern states in snow and ice. With $195 billion in damages in the U.S., the ice storm was the costliest winter storm on record, and it didn’t spare Glenmora—or Michael’s Nursery. Forty more of Goree’s greenhouses collapsed under the weight of the unexpected ice and snow.

And then, the following October, his office burned down.

Goree didn’t give up, though. He did the only thing he could do: he rebuilt Michael’s Nursery.

“That’s just the attitude I have,” he said. “What’s the alternative, you know?

I can’t do anything about it. I can’t sit here and mope and dwell on it. I never dwell on the past. I keep moving toward the future. We got all the greenhouses back up that same year, and we moved into our new office in February.”

That optimistic attitude has propelled Goree through his nearly lifelong career in the horticulture industry. He started working for a local nursery in 1977 when he was just 14 years old. After graduating from high school and a brief stint working in the oilfields, he came back to central Louisiana and started working full time for a local nursery supply house in Forest Hill. The next spring, he started his own nursery on the side, keeping his day job.

“I was looking around at people I knew who owned businesses and I thought, ‘I can do this. I like managing people,’ Goree said. “If I was going to go into business for myself, [running a nursery] was the only thing I knew, and that’s what drove me in that direction.”

He continued to work his way up at his day job, learning the ins and outs of the nursery business. He eventually became the manager of the nursery supply house and spent ten years in that role. In 1997, the company Goree worked for was dissolved. He knew it was time to devote himself to his own business.

“You know, hindsight is always 20/20,” he said. “I should have gone to work for myself sooner, but I had a good job, I worked for a good company and it was going to take something to push me off the plank. I was scared. Sure was. But after I got shoved off that plank, it was sink or swim and I was all in. The rest is history.”

The time Goree spent managing the nursery supply house armed him with the skills he needed to rapidly expand his own nursery, a container operation specializing in woody ornamentals.

“I couldn’t go try to get customers of my own when I was the nursery supply house manager because that would have been a conflict of interest,” he said. “When it dissolved, all bets were off and I could start working on some clientele for myself. Believe it or not, I still have customers that have been with me since 1997.”

At the time, the Michael’s Nursery staff consisted of Goree and a high school student who worked half days. Thirtyeight years later, Michael’s Nursery has two locations totaling 66 acres and 30+ employees. They offer a wide range of quality retail plants at wholesale prices, promising exceptional customer service and reliable delivery to retail customers and landscape professionals. Over the years, Michael’s Nursery has expanded their offerings to include perennials and shrubs, as well as flower bulbs, seeds and more. They grow the majority of their plants on-site.

“The different species of plants that are available to us now versus when I started—it’s mind boggling,” he said. “Back when I started, the plants that were native around here were what everybody grew and sold. Now there are plants being pulled from all over the world.”

Goree said the business model has shifted, too. When he started, most nurseries sold smaller quantities of plants in more of a retail line. Today, he said, there’s a lot more re-wholesaling.

“We’re moving plants in a lot bigger quantities and a lot faster,” he said. “We used to sell 100 of this, 100 of that. Now we’re selling thousands of one plant.”

What hasn’t changed are Goree’s guiding principles for the business.

“Our philosophy here—and it can be difficult to convey this to customers— is that we not only want your business today,” he said, “but we also want it tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and into the next decade. We deliver the product on time. There aren’t usually a lot of complications. That’s one of the reasons people do business with us. We make it easy. We get what they need in a timely manner, time and time again.”

Goree said his nursery’s focus on cleanliness sets it apart from competitors.

“One of the things we try to do is keep the place nice and neat and clean,” he said. “We would hope that the clientele that comes in looking for a place to do business recognizes the cost of keeping a plant clean and weed free round the clock.”

Another hallmark of Michael’s Nursery is the quality of service they provide.

“I would give up any of my customer lists to anybody, because if you can take ‘em away from me, I wasn’t doing a good job and I don’t think anybody could,” he said. “That’s the way I look at how we do business with our customers. If I had to give anybody any advice in this industry, whether they started ten years ago or today, I’d say they’d better be thick-skinned and have a lot of grit.”

Though rewarding, the nursery business isn’t for the faint of heart, Goree said.

“I’ve had friends, associates and acquaintances who have entertained the idea of getting into the nursery business, but this business is ever so challenging because if you did the same thing last year at the same time— same pot, same plant, same fertilizer, etc.—you do not get the same results,” he said. “It’s just a challenge every day to consistently produce a quality plant. An everyday challenge. Anybody in the nursery business would tell you that.”

Even combined with the three disasters that have hit Michael’s Nursery in the past several years, those challenges don’t faze Goree, the eternal optimist. After all, his business gives him the opportunity to make new friends every day.

“My favorite part of the job is meeting or soliciting new customers,” he said. “Bar none. There is nothing more that I cherish.”

That includes partnerships with vendors. At his former job at the nursery supply house, he counted BWI among his competitors. Since he opened his own nursery, Goree has enjoyed a strong partnership with BWI, among other vendors.

“I have to tip my hat to Brian [Bridges],” Goree said about his BWI sales rep. “In my career, going back to 1977, I’ve never seen times as challenging as they are now. Just getting the material in so you can grow the product is a challenge. BWI and Brian have done a tremendous job of keeping us apprised of what we have on order and when it’s coming in. They’ve helped us fill those voids.”

Goree said he can’t help but laugh at the challenges his business has encountered in recent years.

“After being in this business for a few years, I knew I wanted to be recognized by my peers in the industry and somehow leave my mark on this industry,” he said. “I never thought it would have been for losing the most greenhouses in the community. It was an unbelievable year. I was at a convention in January and people came by and asked what happened, and they started backing away from me.”

Ultimately, Michael’s Nursery came out ahead and learned a few lessons along the way.

“We ended up adding nine greenhouses on top of what we had last year,” Goree said. “We’ve got them all structurally taken care of. If we were to go through something like that again, I’d be in a lot better shape.”

Though Michael’s Nursery has been going strong for 38 years, Goree keeps an eye on the future of the industry.

“I went to a seminar in Michigan that addressed where the industry is headed, and that particular nursery was growing branded material,” he said. “I think the nurseries are heading more in that direction.”

Michael’s Nursery currently offers an assortment of branded plants, including selections from the Southern Living Plant Collection, Encore Azaleas, Knockout Roses, Drift Roses, Proven Winners and more. Much like you’d expect a McDonald’s Big Mac to taste the same in California as it does in New York, branded plants give nurseries a chance to offer consistent plants with a recognizable name brand and built-in marketing support.

When Goree isn’t brushing up on the latest nursery trends, he spends time with his wife of 36 years, Yvette, and their daughter and two sons. The family loves to travel, go camping and snow skiing, and attend NASCAR races at Talladega. But Goree isn’t planning on retiring anytime soon. There’s too much work to be done.

“I can tell you this: I’ll be 60 years old in June, and I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited about being in business,” he said. “I started this nursery in spring of 1984. That’s 38 years I’ve been doing it. We have room for expansion. We are being recognized by our peers. I have a good group of people who work for me. It’s just an exciting time. I can’t wait to see what else happens.”