As many of you know, my father, Denny, passed away on Christmas morning. For me, it was the greatest loss I have ever felt. I don’t think it’s possible for two people to have a perfect relationship. Dad and I were as close as you could get. we are father and son We were business partners and most importantly he was really my best friend.
Of these relationships, the most difficult was building and establishing Denny McKeown’s Bloomin Garden Center and Landscape. When he left his Natorp’s in 1991, he was at the top of our profession with great success. He had a great career in radio and television. He could have easily become a consultant to other businesses.
Instead, he started the Bloomin Garden Center.
When he started his company, he actually opened two stores. The current store on Kenwood Road and West He is a leased garden center on Route 42 in Chester. He started the new company without the previous company’s employees. even his son. I was absent on the first day. At the time, I was also employed as the manager of Natorp’s.
Most people do it without publicity when starting a new business. Denny McKeown was the exception to this rule. He was one of the most popular talk his radio hosts in the area. He’s been waiting in line to shop at Bloomin’ almost since the first day it opened.
Dad retired as vice president of marketing at Natorp. It’s been a few years since I’ve been on the front line of the gardening store. He had only leftover employees from his previous owner and his new employer. No one could handle the amount of business his radio popularity generated. I started using my time off from other companies to help him out as much as I could. I joined him on his June 1, 1992 Bloomin’.
As anyone who has started a new business will tell you, it’s impossible to be prepared for even a fraction of the challenges that lie ahead. Dad used to be president of a national organization called the Garden Centers of America. He certainly should have known all there was to know, but still we pretty much lost business in the first few years.In the first six months he was in West Chester. We have closed the store.
As they say, “When one door closes, another opens.” He decided to start offering landscape services. It took him time and effort, but he managed to put it back together. We learned a lot about and from each other. Throughout my life, people have always told me how much I look like my father. Our personalities also had a lot in common. More importantly, there were many differences.
Personality differences in business spell disaster, but in our case it was a recipe for success. He could recognize my strengths. Then he let go where he wasn’t. He taught me how to be a businessman and allowed me to be a businessman.
The most important thing he taught me was the importance of good people. We are certainly lucky to have hired so many talented people, and those talented people are still with us today.
When he wrote this column, he also paid tribute to the importance of everyone reading this column. I also listened to his radio show and bought his books. Please support our business now and in the future. He has always been very humble about the celebrity status you have placed on him.
On behalf of my father and family, I want to say thank you! I would like to express my sincere gratitude for the tremendous support you gave me when I passed away. For the sake of our family and everyone, we will do our best to honor his name and legacy.