A staple of the Two Harbors community is under new ownership. Scott and Savannah Krech are now at the helm of Anderson’s Greenhouse.
The greenhouse has been providing floral arrangements to North Shore residents since Jerry Anderson opened the business in 1956. The previous owners, Jim Shogren and Jeff Peterson, began working at the greenhouse when they were in high school, and after a two-year transition, they took over full ownership in 1979. The Krechs have had a similar breaking-in period since November of 2022, officially taking over at the beginning of this year, although Shogren and Peterson continue to help.
“They’ve been a huge asset to us,” Scott Krech said of the former owners.
“We didn’t have any intention of doing this at all,” Krech continued, “but just in talking with Jeff I thought maybe we could make something work. We bit the bullet and now we run a greenhouse. Now we’re trying to figure out how to run two businesses.”
Krech has been running a sawmill for the last five or six years. Previously, he had worked in a lab for over 20 years.
“[The sawmill] was really my endgame. That’s what I thought I was going to do,” he said. “It’s a lot nicer spending your winters in [a greenhouse]. Now I think this is my endgame.”
The Krechs have immersed themselves in the business. They, along with their three adult children, all work there.
“It feels like home because I never go home anymore,” Krech said.
Including Shogren and Peterson, Anderson’s Greenhouse has about 20 employees. The company boasts more than 8,500 square feet of greenhouses, which are heated year-round. Three furnaces are employed as needed to keep portions of the greenhouse 60 degrees all winter long.
The greenhouse grows some plants from seeds and others from plugs. Trees are started bare root. Shogren built a reputation for his poinsettias and geraniums. In fact, Krech said Shogren expects to grow 1,000 poinsettias this winter, 350 of which will be sold by high school students in Two Harbors.
“Jim’s well-known for his poinsettias and geraniums,” Krech said.
“If it grows, we’ll sell it,” he added. Customers can buy started plants or beautiful floral arrangements, and delivery is available. The store also offers gifts, candles, balloons, a full line of gardening equipment and tools, potting soil, and other essentials, and a full line of animal feed.
In addition, Anderson’s fulfills online orders from Teleflora and maintains flowers in Two Harbors.
“We do all the flowers around town,” Krech said. “All the flowers you see hanging around town, we care for all of them. That’s the main focus here—supplying plants for the community to beautify the world.”
That includes Lakeview Memorial Cemetery, just across the road. In addition to flowers, this year, Krech said the greenhouse will be supplying wreaths to the cemetery for the Wreaths Across America program.
“They supply you with the means to put a wreath on every single veteran’s site,” Krech said. “It’s like 1,000 Christmas wreaths. It’ll be a big undertaking.”
Krech said geraniums are the top seller, but whether you’re looking for flowers or trees, he’s got it. Diversity has been the key to success at the greenhouse.
The busy season is obviously spring. “But that only lasts a couple months, so you have to do something the other 10 months to fill the void,” Krech said. “That’s what enabled [Peterson and Shogren] to keep the doors open all year round. Now we’re trying to figure out the next direction.”
Animal feed has been a major help to the business. “We sell a boatload of dog food,” Krech said. “We get a lot of people that come up from Duluth because they like the drive. They like the small-town feel. They like the dogs here.” At any given moment, you’re likely to find resident dogs Stella and Z roaming around the store.
To add to the small-town feel, Krech said he’s made the store sort of a coffee klatsch.
“I want to push that and make it a safe zone for old-timers,” he laughed. “People pull up, the garage is open and they can just drink their coffee and talk about the weather.”
If you stop by, be sure to check out the massive orchid cactus, which sports large red flowers when in bloom.
“People come from all over the place just to look at it and I so hope we don’t kill it,” Krech said. The plant is about eight years old and is frequently cut. The leaves are planted and for about $10, you can take home your own started orchid cactus, “So people can take a bit of Anderson’s Greenhouse home with them,” Savannah said.
Although the Krechs haven’t been running the business for long, they’ve got some good ideas, including a pumpkin patch this fall and Christmas trees next winter.
Although growing and maintaining plants is no small order, Krech said he enjoys the social aspect of interacting with his customers. “I get paid to talk to people for a living,” he said.
Anderson’s Greenhouse is located at 1403 7th Ave. in Two Harbors. For more information, visit: andersonsgreenhouseth.com.
