Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com April 4, 2016 • Hartford Business Journal 5 Crowles see green in horticulture business By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com A tria Inc.'s roots go back 22 years, but its husband-wife owners have been firmly planted in Connecti- cut's interior horticulture business about twice that long. Steering Atria are principals Joanne and Bruce Crowle, president and vice pres- ident, respectively. His focus is sales; hers is accounting and human resources. They have about 12 employees, including techni- cians who water and maintain plants. Atria's leafy, colorful, decorative work is visible at about 350 locations statewide, including some of the Hartford area's most notable addresses, from the Gold Building and CityPlace lobbies and offices to East Hartford's Pratt & Whitney and offices in West Hartford's Blue Back Square. Greenwich High School sweethearts, the Crowles will mark 45 years of marriage this summer and turn 65. Bruce worked around plants after college, but wanted to open his own business. The Crowles found a tiny shop in Greenwich and borrowed $50 from Bruce's father to put down for security. They opened Decora in 1976, selling indoor plants, macramé plant hangers and terrarium gardens with colored sand. "There was hardly anybody in the industry doing what we started doing," Joanne said. Bruce referred to their next decade in business as the "Roaring '80s, because there was so much demand for interior plants." They did retail, restaurants, residential and rentals, but landed Xerox in Green- wich about 1980, which started them going indoors to offices. In a big job, they land- scaped the atrium at the new Hyatt Regen- cy in Greenwich in 1986. "We were young and we thought, 'Oh this is great, we're going to do one of these every year,' " Bruce said. "That's pretty much the biggest project we ever did." Approached by suitors, they sold Deco- ra in 1990, with Bruce working in sales for the new owner for two years. The Crowles moved to Cheshire in 1992, with Bruce doing sales for a landscape contractor. But entrepreneurs at heart, they opened Atria out of their home in 1994 with a focus on corporate clients. Hartford's Gold Build- ing was Atria's first big customer about 1996 and remains a client today. Atria is now based in Wolcott in a 13,000-square-foot building, largely storage for Christmas trees and other holiday deco- rations. Holiday decorating comprises a big piece of Atria's winter business. Its work includes the large Christmas tree outside The Cheesecake Factory at Blue Back Square. Atria's warehouse also serves as a brief holding area for flowers and other plants, many from Florida, rotated into businesses on a regularly to keep plants fresh and seasonal. Atria also plants exte- rior containers. Atria sells the plants, maintains them and provides the containers — even match- ing pots to corporate colors if necessary. It's about designing plants and contain- ers to go with offices, not "plant-plopping," Bruce said. Atria replaces plants that die, often within 24 hours, free of charge. Bruce said customer complaints present golden oppor- tunities because if they fix problems quickly it reflects good customer service. One of the biggest challenges Atria over- came was the recession, when plants were low-hanging fruit for cost-cutting, Bruce said. Business suffered between 2008 and 2011. The Crowles cut salaries 10 percent for themselves and managers; other staff didn't get raises. It was painful, but Atria avoided layoffs and business rebounded, growing about 5 percent annually the last three years, Bruce said. The Crowles describe their management style as compassionate, fair and easy-going, with mutual respect between them and staff. To unwind, Bruce tends to their Cheshire yard, where he says gardening is his meditation. The couple enjoys visiting their two daughters and three grandchil- dren in California, and son in Vermont. n H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S Joanne and Bruce Crowle are seen in their Atria office in front of a sample of a new trend in their industry — green walls, or vertical gardens — which feature containerized plants in wall frames. Facebook.com/GrowCT Twitter.com/GrowCT Linkedin.com/company/ctsbdc > View Online in Digital Format at www.PrepareCT.com/resources You've worked hard to create your small business. Stay ahead of emergency situations with these new tools from the CTSBDC. PrepareCT.com GrowCT.com 855-428-7232 Disaster Recovery Toolkit for Small Businesses A Post-Disaster Checklist PrepareCT is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. PrepareCT is led by The Connecticut Small Business Development Center (CTSBDC) in partnership with 16 small business-focused organizations throughout the state. PDS has been meeting the needs of the construction industry since 1965. Our dedicated team of design and construction professionals welcomes the challenge of serving its past and future customers on their most demanding projects. Family Dollar | Wethersfield, Connecticut PDS was selected as Design Build General Contractor to renovate the existing 20,000 square foot building and to construct a 10,000 square foot addition. This retail facility includes a Family Dollar and 5 additional tenant spaces for future businesses. Brick veneer and EIFS was a substantial component to the exterior construction of the building. Project Size: 30,000 SF 107 Old Windsor Road, Bloomfield, CT 06002 (860) 242-8586 | Fax (860) 242-8587 www.pdsec.com DESIGN BUILDERS • GENERAL CONTRACTORS • CONSTRUCTION MANAGERS SPOTLIGHT ON: Retail PDS ENGINEERING & CONSTRUCTION, INC. THINK • PLAN • BUILD Check out a video clip of the Crowles' interview at hartfordbusiness.com. Joanne and Bruce Crowle President and vice president, respectively, Atria Inc., Wolcott. Highest degree of education: Bruce, bachelor's degree in biology, Guilford College, Greensboro, N.C., 1974 Executive insights: Turn a complaint into an opportunity," Bruce said. Also key in a service industry, "the people you hire, and how you treat your people and how you work with them." Constant training and keeping up with technology are important, "even in a soft business like plants, there is continuous improvements in technology." EXECUTIVE PROFILE

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