Scott’s business, family life continues to blossom after fire

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HELPING HANDS — Natalee and Sofia carry trays from the greenhouse to a truck to be loaded at Boutilier’s Garden Center, owned by Larry Scott and operated by his fiance and daughters.
By Gloria Austin
Staff Writer
    It’s hard enough to maintain a business in tough economic times, but when part of your business is damaged in a fire, it can be devastating.
    On May 2, 2011, Boutilier’s Florist and Greenhouse was marred by fire when the blaze started in the attached residence to the greenhouse.
    “It was the worst time of year for a greenhouse to have a fire,” said 10-year owner Larry Scott. “Five days before Mother’s Day.”
    The week prior to the fire, Scott had shipped three loads of his inventory because the weather had been good. He had four more loads ready to go the week the blaze broke out.
    Boutilier’s Florist and Greenhouse lost a 28-by-60 office building/apartment to the flames, along with a 30-by-60 greenhouse; a 15-foot glass house and approximately 20 feet of another 30-foot greenhouse.
    “It singed everything in the place,” said Scott. “But, it didn’t put us out.”
    Though day-to-day operations were conducted as usual, a lot of issues were taking place behind the scene that could have shut the business down.
    “F.A. Peabody Company was our insurance company and they were super,” said Scott. “We have no qualms with them. But, the bank tightened up. We have fought long and hard to get the money to rebuild.”
    Scott was finally cleared to start reconstruction on Dec. 16, 2011.
    “I had a lot of cold fingers,” he said.
    Since the fire, Scott, along with his family, fiancé Michelle and children Natalee and Sofia, are working  to put a positive swing back into the setback by developing their business — now known as Boutilier’s Garden Center — into a thriving nursery again.
    “We have a full line of bedding plants, hanging baskets and vegetable seedlings,” said Scott.
    Scott had gotten away from the seasonal plants because he had no way of heating the greenhouse.
    “Our heating system was obsolete,” he said. “With our new boiler system, we can heat just a portion of the greenhouse. Poinsettias need 70 degree heat from August through November. I can now divide the house in an aisle and heat just one end.”
    With the new heating system, Scott has Mums started and they will be ready by fall. He will have Asiatic lilies, along with poinsettias at Christmas and a full range of holiday plants.
    Boutilier’s Garden Center is one of the few greenhouses that grow their own plants for residential and wholesale customers.
    “By doing wholesale, it gives us volume so we can buy product cheaper,” explained Scott.
    Since the fire, Scott and his family are working on new marketing strategies to carve out their niche.
    “We are going to be adding some farm-related hardware,” he said. “We are hooked up with an independent hardware wholesaler. I may not be the cheapest, but I just might surprise some people. Our prices are very competitive because we don’t have the overhead.”
    Boutilier’s Florist and Greenhouse opened in 1946. The greenhouse benches were positioned lengthwise to hold cut flowers.
    “If you were a florist in 1946, you had to grow your own cut flowers or you could get them in once a week by train. There was no FedEx,” Scott said.
    Underneath the benches was 2,500 feet of two-inch heating pipes, which Scott removed. He also turned the benches to accommodate the bedding plants.
    “I have turned everything around,” he added. “We now have wider aisles, which are more consumer-friendly and we are going to carts.”
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REBUILDING — Larry Scott and his fiance Michelle are rebuilding Boutilier’s Garden Center.
    Right now, Scott and his family move plants from one greenhouse by lugging two trays at a time.
    “We load a truck, two trays at a time,” he added. Boutilier’s Garden Center delivers wholesale goods from East Millinocket to Madawaska.
    The remodeling process isn’t complete, as Scott spreads himself thin to make a living. He spends an average of 60 hours in the greenhouses, while tending a farm in Linneus of 35 to 40 head of beef cattle.
    “We are still a long way from where we want to be,” he said. “It is step by step. We are still trying to get our feet back under us. The fire really knocked us around.”
    Despite the increasing competition, Boutilier’s Garden Center wants to be a hometown old-fashioned friendly neighbor.
    “When you go to a box store, they want your number,” said Scott. “You are not a phone number here. We don’t care about your last name. We are going to call you by your first name. We don’t want that type of [formality]. We want a one-on-one personal relationship. We have a small customer base, but it’s loyal.”
    Scott has delivered feed after hours because a customer’s animals were hungry. He has gone out at midnight to help a neighbor deliver a calf.
    “We take care of our customers,” Scott explained. “If they need something or if they need ideas and I can’t help them, I will send them to where they can be helped.”
    Scott has added two new lines of feed, Agway and Poulin; by the beginning of June, coal will be available, along with pellets and hardwood by the pallet or truckload. Beside plants, flowers and livestock feed, Boutilier’s Florist and Greenhouse has fresh farm eggs supplied by a customer, as well as local beef, which will be in mid-May to June.
    Even though the economy has been slow the last couple of years; a national chain store came to town; competition has steepened and a destructive fire, giving Scott and his family a 1-2-3 punch, they are hoping times turn around for them.
    “I just want to pay my bills,” he said. “Every [profit] we have had this year has gone right back into this place. I enjoy what I am doing. I want to stay here.”
    Visit Boutilier’s Garden Center to see their new 35-foot by 70-foot and 64-foot by 30-foot restored greenhouses at 49 Calais Rd. They are open Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon. To reach Boutilier’s Garden Center call 532-2997.
NEW — Boutilier’s Garden Center has been rebuilt after last year’s fire with a new 35-foot by 70-foot and 64-foot by 30-foot restored greenhouses at 49 Calais Rd.