City People’s Garden Store closing by year’s end

After serving the Madison Valley community for nearly three decades, City People’s Garden Store (2939 E. Madison St.) will close its doors by the end of the year.

The neighborhood nursery, which has provided plants, seeds and gardening supplies to residents since 1988, has been told it can operate until the end of the year but, due to the possible impending sale of the property, must cease.

The news was announced at the beginning of March on the store’s website and to customers coming in.

“Yes, this is heartbreaking for both the staff and the community,” a City’s People statement said. “This garden store is a beloved place. We have heard from many devastated customers who have found solace just coming here to walk around. We have gotten tons of notes of shock and sadness and support. Besides those who love to come and walk around the nursery, we have hundreds of people who have enjoyed our free gardening workshops and are figuring out how to grow food in their p-patches and on their balconies. And then we have neighbors who are very upset about losing the more-or-less ‘open space’ that is getting more and more rare these days.”

City People’s is currently looking for another location and is asking anyone who might know of a suitable property to contact the store.
The store has a second location, in Sand Point, that is also intended to be sold, as the business operates under lease there as well.
According to the store’s website, the four property owners wish to sell as they are all retirement-age.

“For us, we need the outdoor space, the land, to function as a nursery. So the property owners didn’t even try to sell this business once they made their mind up to cash in on the property,” the statement read. “We are looking at possible new sites, but we also know it will be very challenging to get one going. Land prices make operating a nursery difficult.

“We have gotten nothing but support from the public,” it continued. “Most have said they would follow us anywhere, help us with a transition. But, ultimately, it will be a different store. Nothing can replace the magic that we have had here in Madison Valley — centrally located, large open space and plenty of room for gifts.”

Community help

In an open letter to the community posted on its website, property owners Judith Gille, Harley Broe, Carol Anderson and Dianne Casper shared the story of City People’s Garden Store, explaining that the original business, City People’s Mercantile Capitol Hill, opened in 1979.

“Believing the area needed a viable garden store and nursery, we were determined to build one. It was a big risk,” the open letter said. “In 1988, Madison Valley was a very different neighborhood than today — many of the buildings that now line Madison [Street] didn’t exist back then and the ones that did were either boarded-up or had bars on the windows.

“We want you to know that we, the property owners — some of whom still work in the stores, and all of whom are in their 60s or 70s — have strived to ensure that any new development on the current site reflect our values and is a positive addition to the neighborhood,” the owners said in the open letter.

The owners go on to offer a few suggestions on how the community can help City People’s, including the search for another location “and support them getting a new store off the ground. Continue to support the garden store staff by shopping there through the end of 2016. Please withhold judgment until you see what the new plan and retailer are going to be (we guarantee it’s not a Walgreens or any other pharmacy).”

City People’s landscaping will continue to serve the community, the statement read. However, concerns have been raised about employees losing their jobs.

Groups of neighbors are apparently planning to meet, according to one store supporter, “to see how they can save City People’s and preserve the character of Madison Valley.”

For more information, visit citypeoples.com.

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