A trio of entrepreneurs hopes to cultivate the growing passion for local-grown and sustainable foods with a new Hilliard gardening supply store.
But theres another potential market out there that spurred the recent opening of Hygrowponics – marijuana.
I can see the potential, said co-owner Stan Gorski. There are 54 stores like this in Denver. Theres about six here.
Gorski joined with husband and wife Tanner Edwards and Faith Edwards to open Hygrowponics in August at 3914 Brown Park Drive. It’s a 2,800-square-foot shop stocked with soils and nutrients for indoor or outdoor gardening plus supplies and accessories for those who want to grow herbs and vegetables inside.
The founders all have farming and environmental backgrounds. Tanner Edwards was an environmental science major and spent four years with the U.S. Forest Service. Faith Edwards grew up on an organic farm in southwest Michigan. Gorski is the son of a retired horticulture professor at Ohio State University. He has 20 years of farming and growing experience in corporate and non-corporate settings, including spending the past seven years in Denver where he grew medical marijuana, which now is legal in Ohio.
Many rules pertaining to medical marijuana still need to be established, but the business potential could be huge. Columbus Business Firsts chronicler of cannabis, Tom Knox, tackled that question in an Aug. 26 cover story.
Obviously thats a big opportunity, Faith Edwards said. That could make a huge difference in sales.
But with questions on the medical front still to be answered and recreational use nothing more than a hope at this moment, the Hygrowponics crew knows it cant bank on that market.
Its easy to grow tomatoes, to have an herb garden inside, Tanner Edwards said.
Gorski said an estimated 30 percent of homeowners already have a garden. Residents in more urban areas may not have the land to do outdoor gardening, which is where indoor work may make sense. They see themselves as a boutique supplier established in a clean, bright retail space, not a cavernous garage.
News Moderator: Katelyn Baker
Full Article: New Shop Supplying Greenthumbs Opens In Hilliard, But Bigger Market Tied To Marijuana May Loom
Author: Dan Eaton
Contact: Columbus Business First
Photo Credit: Dan Eaton
Website: Columbus Business First
