CONCORD — At one “garden room” entrance, a hand-carved, 300-year-old wooden door from India invited visitors to revel in the colors and scents of the season — orchid pink, marigold yellow and moss green.Bubbling Zen fountains temporarily drowned out the road noise from bustling Baltimore Pike, leaving room for onlookers to marvel at a sculptured bathtub hand-carved from a piece of stone from Indonesia.
A Brazilian Camaroo wood and resin sofa beckoned weary travelers to nuzzle their heads into its striped outdoor throw pillows — all with price tags reflecting their good taste.
Yes, home gardening has taken on a new meaning in Delaware County and it’s known simply as “terrain at Styer’s.”
The gardening-retail hybrid is the first of its kind in the country, offering food, furniture and horticulture in one, very contemporary and beautiful spot — the site of J. Franklin Styer’s 118-year-old township nursery.
Unlike its big-box predecessors, the new gardening-retail revolution offers more high-end products (with larger price tags, of course), and at a painstakingly artful attention to detail in its presentation of products, resembling an outdoor gallery rather than a place to purchase goods.
Urban Outfitters, a business with $1.2 billion in sales last year, decided to launch the new kind of home-garden store as the “green industry” exploded and the home-gardening industry raked in $80 billion last year.
Its brain child is terrain at Styer’s in Concord Township, “terrain” being Urban Outfitters’ fourth brand, along with Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People — retail shops offering hip clothes and household products.
John Kinsella, managing director of terrain, said the company saw “tremendous opportunity” in an industry “unlike any that I’m aware of.”
Joining forces with J. Franklin Styer’s Nursery Inc. was also a “no-brainer,” he said.
“Styer’s has a real strong reputation for its great plants and service, and our offices are a half-hour away. It’s a natural fit,” Kinsella said.
The nursery has made impressive showings at the Philadelphia Flower Show for decades, and terrain at Styer’s recently won the coveted “Best in Show” Landscape award at the competition in March.
While shopping or browsing at the new store, it’s not difficult to see why.
Employees said they pride themselves on their attention to detail; from the rocks that line a brick path along the 10-acre property, to the intricate arrangements of exotic plants and flowers from around the world.
Terrain has officially been open to the public for weeks now, but Thursday marked its grand opening soiree, drawing Urban Outfitters employees from across the region.
“It’s more than shopping,” an employee said. “It’s a day out.”
“Easily, I’ve seen people spend four, five hours here, and come back the very next day,” Kinsella said.
With three acres of gardens to explore, 3,000 square feet of plants under glass and 8,000 square feet of home and decor products to peruse, it’s no wonder the nursery’s new clientele keep coming back for more.
Terrain at Styer’s also offers its guests a 1,000-square-foot, European-style eatery, Styer’s Garden Cafe, where renowned chefs serve up organic eggs, Challah french toast and smoked and house-cured salmon with caperberries, sweet onion, egg, chive creme fraiche and artisan breads.
Gardening supplies range from spades and soils that cater to the novice gardener to those that only the most-advanced would know how to use.
Shelves of books adorn large wooden tables amid both live and artificial flowers, along with high-end organic soaps and lotions to soothe gardeners’ dirt-caked skin.
And while most of these products cost more than the average home gardening store, some bargains still exist in the labyrinth of nature known as terrain at Styer’s.
The average shopper could expect to see price tags ranging from $5 for potted petunias, to $600 for shiny pots that a small child could fit inside.
“We inspire people,” said Richard Hayne, chairman and founder of Urban Outfitters. “That’s what Urban and Anthropologie are known for. We want to excite people in a way that leads them to enjoy gardening as much as we do.”
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New ‘terrain’ blooming at retail-garden store
Posted by seanh on Saturday, May 17th 2008
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