 
Stacy's Through the Years...
The idea for Stacy's Greenhouse took root in the spring of 1969 when Louis O. Stacy, Jr. came home from the Navy. With the help of his parents, he decided to build a small greenhouse, so that his mother could grow her vegetables and flower plants in it.
The first greenhouse was built with old windows that were being replaced at a local textile factory. The family pooled their money and bought 18 windows at $10 dollars apiece. It took all fall for Louis, Jr. and his father Louis, Sr. to build the forms and finish building the first greenhouse. It was 12' x 48'. Tables and fans were added and it was heated with an old dui-therm heater from their living room.
At first, the Stacy's had no idea where to buy anything so they started visiting other little greenhouses. Someone told Louis, Jr. to visit Mr. Rufty at Piedmont Garden Supply in Salisbury, NC. He sold them Jiffy Mix, Jiffy strips and some paper mache boxes to sow seeds in. When Mr. Rufty started to write that first invoice he asked, "What name should I put down?" Mr. Rufty then said, "How about Stacy's Greenhouse?" So that was it. The first invoice was $23.
They ordered some seeds and put a table by a window in their utility room. The table was placed over an electric base board heating unit. Louis' mother, Ruby, sowed seed in all their little boxes and watered them with Linda's (the youngest daughter) toy sprinkler! When it came time to transplant, they only had the peat cups and not the flats. Louis made wooden flats to hold the four-dozen jiffy strips. In just a matter of days, their greenhouse was full of transplanted tomato plants! They had to build a cold frame to put the overflow in.
The Stacy's had their cold frame full of beautiful Better Boy tomato plants. They were so afraid they were not going to be able to sell them all. Then one day Mr. Whit Farr and his son Hubert came up from Jonesville. They were big truck farmers. They bought 1200 Better Boy tomato plants. They've bought their plants from the Stacy's for many years now. Stacy's sold $1500.00 that first year.
In 1993, Stacy's incorporated and today, Stacy's Greenhouses encompasses ten acres of greenhouse space, two retail garden centers, and three growing farms of 300+ acres. Stacy's has become the largest grower of perennials in the Southeast but also grows many other crops as well; including pansies, cabbage and kale, selected annuals, and garden mums. Stacy's also grows a large variety of blooming and bedding plants to furnish their retail outlets.
Currently, the company ships to 20+ different states from New York to Florida and west to Texas. Stacy's supplies independent garden centers and large chain stores with a variety of products. Stacy's also operates within several chain stores through its Merchandising Program, which allows Stacy's employees to provide extra assistance to our customers and theirs.
The credit for this growth must go to Louis, Jr. for having the foresight and ingenuity for putting such a business together; to his family that has supported him and has been involved from the beginning and to the Stacy's loyal employees. Many changes have been made over the years, but one thing has not changed - Stacy's is still a family owned business and they still love seeing green plants grow.
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