This year’s tour day is jam-packed with garden retailing at its best! We’ve created a full-day tour of five of the Cleveland area's best retail garden centers, including lunch at Petitti's - Bainbridge and dinner at Willoway Nurseries. Be ready to connect with fellow retailers, our service pros, and our sponsors, and discover new possibilities for profit. Bus captains will provide behind-the-scenes statistics to prepare you for each stop, plus a little Ohio Trivia along the way.
So hop on board, be ready to enjoy a beautiful fall day of discovery in Cleveland, and return to the hotel in time to relax and continue conversations with your Group peers.
Buses depart from the front entrance (streetside) of the Hotel Cleveland at 8:30 am sharp and will return to the hotel at approximately 8:00 pm.
An Inspiring Landscape Destination! Bremec Garden Centers offers an unforgettable experience by combining extraordinary plant quality with an extensive selection of fall seasonal favorites, vibrant annuals, trees, shrubs, perennials, exotic tropicals, and house plants. It's a go‑to destination for all plant enthusiasts.
Beyond plants, Bremec showcases NEO’s largest variety of unique fountains, statuary, pottery, and stone. These distinctive pieces add artistry to any outdoor space. With acres of inspiring displays, knowledgeable staff, and unmatched service, Bremec turns gardens extraordinary.
What you can expect:
Bremec will highlight the vast selection of products and services that set their garden center apart. You will have the freedom to choose which aspects you’d like to explore, and their team can escort you by golf cart for a more personalized experience. Experts will be stationed in every key area of our operation, ready to answer questions, share insights, and educate you based on your specific interests.
Browse Bremec's exceptional selection of seasonal plants, annuals, trees, shrubs, perennials, tropicals, and houseplants. Tour their production facility where Bremec-grown plants begin their journey, or ride through acres of nursery stock they carefully select.
Beyond the extensive plant collection, they proudly showcase the area’s largest variety of unique fountains, statuary, pottery, and stone—providing endless inspiration.
Bremec’s dedicated service departments specialize in planting services, custom container designs, statuary painting, water feature installation, and support.
Take a video tour of Bremec Garden Centers!
Breezewood Gardens 17600 Chillicothe Rd Chagrin Falls, OH 44023
Breezewood Gardens is excited to welcome The Garden Center Group! Family-owned and operated since 1976 by the Kay family, Breezewood has grown from a traditional garden center into a destination where beauty is always in season. What sets us apart is our ability to serve every aspect of our customers' home and lifestyle—from premium plants, trees, shrubs, and tropicals to award-winning floral design, complete landscape services, outdoor living spaces, apparel, gifts, and home décor.
Our landscape division allows us to care for our customers' properties at every stage, whether that's lawn and bed maintenance, landscape renovations, custom patios and walkways, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces, or fully customized outdoor living spaces. Combined with our garden center and retail offerings, we provide a seamless experience that few businesses can match.
Our customers may come in looking for a hanging basket or a Japanese maple and leave with a custom floral arrangement, a baby gift, an outfit for that evening's party, and the perfect hostess gift. That unique blend of gardening, landscaping, floral design, fashion, and gifting creates an experience difficult to find elsewhere.
Guided by our mission to provide the highest standard of excellence in our products, service, and customer experience, we focus on inspiring our customers and helping them celebrate life's everyday moments. At Breezewood, we don't simply sell products—we help our customers create beautiful lives, both indoors and out.
Founded in 1971, Petitti Garden Centers is a family-owned business that has grown from a single neighborhood store into Northeast Ohio’s largest independent garden retailer. Today, the company operates 10 locations serving the Greater Cleveland, Akron-Canton, and Youngstown markets. Owner Angelo Petitti also oversees the extensive growing operations that supply the stores, along with his son (AJ Petitti, President of Petitti Garden Centers) and son-in-law (Joe Allio, President of Petitti Family Farms).
A defining characteristic of Petitti’s is its unique role as both a grower and retailer. Approximately 98% of the plants sold at the garden centers are grown locally and acclimated to Northeast Ohio's climate. Annuals, perennials, and houseplants are cultivated at Casa Verde, the family's 35-acre greenhouse facility in Columbia Station, while hardy trees and shrubs are grown at Petitti Family Farms, the family’s 4,000-acre nursery in Lake County. This close connection between growing and retailing allows the company to offer exceptional plant quality, unmatched selection, and friendly, expert service throughout the growing season.
As hosts of the Garden Center Group Fall Tour, we're pleased to welcome fellow garden center professionals, partners, and sponsors. We look forward to exchanging ideas and best practices in merchandising, operations, marketing, and customer experience!
The Bainbridge location joined the Petitti Garden Center family in 2010 when Angelo Petitti acquired the former Eagle Creek Garden Center, preserving one of Northeast Ohio's most admired independent garden center destinations. Originally developed around the same time as Petitti's Strongsville location nearly 10 years earlier, the property's distinctive architecture, beautiful stonework, and serene natural setting made it a natural fit within the Petitti family of stores. Rather than reinventing the location, Petitti built upon its strong foundation, retaining knowledgeable staff and integrating the company's locally grown plant program, merchandising philosophy, and customer experience while maintaining the character that had long made the garden center a favorite in the Chagrin Valley. Today, the 100,000-square-foot destination serves Greater Cleveland's east side communities with a full assortment of Petitti-grown plants, gardening supplies, outdoor living, and home décor, reflecting the company's commitment to honoring great garden center traditions while continually evolving the retail experience.
Every great garden center has a story. Before our visit, take a few minutes to learn about the history, growth, and legacy of this outstanding garden center by watching the video below.
Opening in Spring 2025 as Petitti Garden Centers' 10th retail location, the Bath Township store transformed a vacant, complex commercial office property into a 140,000-square-foot home and garden destination serving Greater Akron. The redevelopment preserved much of the building's distinctive architecture while reimagining the interior with open sightlines, abundant natural light, and an inviting customer experience.
This location features expansive indoor shopping, two retractable-roof greenhouses, beautifully landscaped outdoor spaces, and a thoughtfully curated assortment of plants, outdoor living products, home décor, and seasonal merchandise. During the tour, guests will see how adaptive reuse, destination merchandising, and operational planning came together to deliver the Petitti Garden Center shopping experience while honoring the character of the original property.
At Boyert’s Greenhouse, our mission is to provide every customer with a memorable experience. We take pride in maintaining a clean and welcoming environment, delivering exceptional customer service, and offering high-quality plants and products to families throughout Medina County and beyond.
Boyert’s Greenhouse was founded in 1985 by Mike and Patti Boyert and remains a family-owned business led by the next generation. Today, five of their six children are involved in various aspects of the operation, continuing the family tradition that has been central to the greenhouse’s success. The business began on the Boyert family farm, located just a half mile down Paradise Road from its current location. In its early years, the greenhouse focused primarily on growing and selling crops wholesale. Alongside greenhouse production, the family farm continues to operate, raising cattle and producing hay across 400 acres.
In 1987, Boyert’s expanded by building and opening a retail store on a 10-acre property at the corner of Paradise Road and Route 3. Later that winter, a glass greenhouse was added. Since 1988, the business has continued to grow, with new greenhouses added regularly to meet customer demand. In 2000, we expanded further by constructing a dedicated Perennial Area and adding 3,200 square feet of retail sales space.
Today, Boyert’s Greenhouse operates on 13 acres and includes approximately two acres of heated greenhouse production space. We grow more than 15,000 flats of annuals and vegetables, 85,000 four-inch plants, 12,000 hanging baskets, as well as a wide variety of herbs, mums, planters and poinsettias. On top of our growing operations, we offer a tree and shrub nursery, a year-round house plant greenhouse, a perennial department, and a garden center area that provides all your gardening needs.
Our gift shop is open year-round and becomes our festive “Christmas Shoppe” during November and December, featuring themed Christmas trees, seasonal décor, and unique gift items. We also create fresh evergreen wreaths, custom decorated to order, and ship them throughout the United States.
Outside of our growing season, we host events, workshops, kids’ educational classes, and farmer and local vendor markets. Not only does this enhance our customers' experience while promoting agriculture and horticulture, but it also provides our local community the opportunity to help promote their businesses and provide a space to bring people together.
As Mike and Patti transition into retirement, leadership of the business is being passed to the next generation of the Boyert family, along with Brian Puls, Nursery Manager. Together, they will continue to build on the strong foundation established by the Boyert family while guiding the greenhouse into the future.
Creating excellence since 1954, Willoway Nurseries is a family-owned nursery and one of the largest wholesale growers of quality nursery stock in the Midwest and ranks within the top 40 nationwide. Willoway encompasses approximately 550 acres of field production and 450 acres of container stock, which includes 32 acres of climate-controlled greenhouses. We carry over 2,000 different plant varieties, including shade trees, ornamental trees and shrubs, evergreens, perennials, and flowering annuals.
Willoway is conveniently located within a day’s drive of 50% of the U.S. population with over 2,000 varieties of trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals, and tropical plants. You're sure to recognize their National branded programs such as:
American Beauties® Bushel and Berry™ Drift Roses® Endless Summer® First Editions® Handpicked for You® Knock Out Roses® Plants That Work® (Founding Member) Proven Winners® (Diamond Level Grower) Raymond Evison™ Star Roses®
During your visit, you will see how Willoway combines generations of horticultural experience with innovative technology and growing practices. The tour will highlight new technology designed to improve efficiency and plant quality, our E-Commerce Connect facilities that help independent garden centers expand their online sales, and Kelly’s Corner, our popular video series featuring timely plants, programs and sales ideas. You will also explore our expansive trial gardens, where new and established varieties are evaluated for performance, quality and potential.
We look forward to welcoming you and sharing the people, plants, technology and passion that continue to move Willoway—and our customers—forward.
