California Nursery Historical Park
Garden Store
This building was demolished in 2019. This area was site of
a flourishing retail business. In the 1930's there was a
major shift from agricultural nursery to retail and George
Roeding Jr followed the rising tide of the American middle class.
The rise of retail during World War II, with the idea of victory
gardens transformed
how the California Nursery dealt with the change of wholesale
business. California Nursery is one of first in the nursery
business to implement retail chains throughout California, creating a platform that
would later expand their company. George Roeding Jr
spearheaded this direction as he became the "vision" for
California Nursery Company's future.
First established in 1884 by American nurseryman John Rock, the
California Nursery relied on wholesale business. Rock did
limited local selling. Wholesale at this time was the preferred way
to run agricultural businesses. The nursery’s primary products
were whole trees, from fruit to ornamental. San Franciscan Board
Member William J. Landers took control of the company after Rock’s
death in 1904. He built a lath house and a retail shop in hopes of
garnering more local business as the Bay Area’s population began
to increase. George Roeding Sr. then purchased the nursery in
1917. Roeding Sr. joined his own successful business in southern
and central California and placed the California Nursery under the
George C. Roeding Holding Company. His son, George Roeding Jr.
began to develop the company’s retail in California as well as
mail order throughout the United States, all while maintaining the
international business.
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early
retail 1920s |
newer retail, 1934 |
This significant alteration of the retail center began in the 1920s. Focusing more on
the retail production of bulbs and roses meant having to offer new
retail services. Roeding Jr. opened several outlets, referred to
as “sales yards,” throughout California. A Landscape Department
was also created to provide landscaping services to other
businesses and homeowners. These additions to the nursery’s shift
in retail led to the construction of the Garden Store.
The Garden Store
was introduced in 1933 and was built by Bill Cull, with the design
attributed to Californian architect Frederick H. Reimers. In the
1930s, Reimers was intent on architecture that accentuated
Modernism. Such buildings were often simplistic, spacious, and
used natural materials such as stone, shakes and battens, and even
adobe. The Garden Store consisted of two buildings with a
breeze-way in between. The buildings were long, rectangular
one-story wood structures. The store included an open porch near
the front and rear end, a salesroom, wooden sliding panel doors,
two offices, large windows, and restrooms. Overall the store was
deliberately designed to favor accessible outdoor space.
The
Garden Store became a central hub for the nursery’s annual spring
shows, where daffodils and tulips were showcased. Its prime
purpose was to serve retail customers and promote the Landscape
Department’s services. The nursery’s alteration from wholesale to
retail proved essential when World War II arrived.
As World War II emerged between the 1930s to 1940s, retail
business became especially vital as the store began to hold
showcases on how local citizens could grow fruit and vegetables at
home. Retail shows gathered much attention and were used as
demonstrations for clients. The Garden Store is known as one of
the first permanent buildings whose obligation was solely to adapt
to the economy’s changing times. It continued to thrive as the
California Nursery’s retail interaction with the public notably
grew in the 1950s and so forth.
Over time, the Garden Store experienced substantial deterioration
near the ground. The rafters and purlins that once supported the
roof began to decay. The wood faced corrosion due to termite
infestation and water infiltration. Broken windows and boarded
doors were also an issue.
Conributions: Charlene Dixon
(TriCity Voice), Joyce Blueford, Bruce Roeding
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