Sunnyside Gardens opens new location in Ammon

Описание: AMMON – A garden center that’s done business in Idaho Falls for 31 years just opened a new location in Ammon.

Sunnyside Gardens officially opened at 3240 E. Sunnyside Rd. last Monday, Feb. 4 on a 5-acre parcel. It includes 4,000 square feet of retail space and another 9,000 square feet of retail greenhouse space.

Though the old location at 2366 E. Sunnyside Rd. had more acreage, Aaron McCracken, the owner, tells EastIdahoNews.com the new location better accommodates future growth and traffic flow.

“We started very small (at our old location) and added buildings and additions onto the store (as needed). It’s been nice to know what we needed down there and be able to build it into one facility with room to grow,” McCracken says.

The retail greenhouses at the old location were divided into two buildings, McCracken says, which made customers flow in two different directions.

The new location also includes five production greenhouses, an entrance more accessible to traffic and a paved parking lot.

Sunnyside Gardens is a full-service garden center that caters to the do-it-yourself homeowner. One of the more popular items they sell is annual bedding plants, but they also offer vegetables, trees, shrubs, soil, and a full array of fertilizers, seeds, and more.

“Everything you need to create a landscape, grow flowers or a garden yourself,” McCracken says.

One thing that sets them apart from other competing businesses, according to McCracken, is the plant material they grow on-site, which allows them to cater to the local growing environment.

The majority of customers at Sunnyside Gardens are middle-aged homeowners, but McCracken says he’s seen an increasing number of millennial customers in recent years.

“As they purchase homes for the first time, there’s a large interest in house plants, growing indoors, and just the health benefits that come from digging in the dirt and working with plant material,” says McCracken.

Sunnyside Gardens is open year-round, but 80 percent of their business happens between mid-April and mid-June during growing season. Seasonal items like Christmas trees and pumpkins attract customers as well, he says.

McCracken purchased Sunnyside Gardens from his father, Kevin, last year after his father decided to retire. Kevin McCracken opened the business at that location in February 1987.

The old building is now vacant and has been listed for sale.

Aaron says he grew up helping his father with the business and is now excited to begin a new chapter in Ammon watching the business grow with his family.

“It’s been a great way to make a living for our families. Now I have young kids who are starting to help out here and there,” McCracken says. “Many people have enjoyed doing business with my father over the years and we hope to keep the same core values and customer service everyone’s been used to going into the next generation.”

McCracken is planning an open house next month and a grand opening in April. The exact dates have not yet been determined.

Sunnyside Gardens is currently open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The closing time will be expanded to 7 p.m. during the spring growing season.