After nearly 70 years in the business, family-run gardening company Hole’s Greenhouses and Gardens has been sold.
TEC Property Inc. is set to take over the business on Jan. 1, 2020. The family name will remain on the St. Albert building.
“It is an emotional time for our family and we’re excited for the next step,” Jim Hole said.
“It’s a privilege to share knowledge of gardening with the community for such a long time and we will continue to do so.”
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The Hole family will continue to focus on its private label merchandise.
The business started in a local barn 68 years ago. Nearly 50 years ago, Ted and Lois Hole transformed the barn into the family’s first retail store.
In 1979, Jim Hole, his brother Bill, and sister Valerie took over the company and expanded it “to become one of the largest independent retail garden centres in Canada,” a news release from the business Monday said.
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“In 2009, Hole’s began construction on the Enjoy Centre, with added space for businesses to lease. In 2015, the centre was sold to focus on the greenhouse business.”
Michelle Bradshaw with TEC Property Inc. said Monday that Bill and Valerie have shared as much knowledge with her as possible.
“They’re dear friends now. We’ll always, I think, be supportive of each other.”
In 2017, Jim Hole took on the role as the director of a medical marijuana operation for Atlas Growers.
“It’s emotional,” he said on Monday. “I think about being with my mother and we’d walk through the greenhouses and up and down the aisles, checking the plants out. So, that I won’t be involved with and that’s kind of tough because plants are my thing.”
Dec. 13, 2017: An Edmonton greenhouse mogul is taking his knowledge of plants to the next level. Gord Steinke sat down to speak to Jim Hole who has taken on the role as the director of a medical marijuana operation for Atlas Growers.