| Company
History |
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| Vacant Chicken
Barn Turns Into Multi-Million Dollar Business |
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| The year was 1973. Richard Nixon was president.
The Miami Dolphins won the NFL Superbowl. Martin Cooper, the inventor of
the mobile phone made the first mobile call. That was the year Charley Yaw,
not long after graduating from Oregon State University, decided to start
his own business adventure - designing and building portable buildings.
With no money in his pockets, but an entrepreneur's dream in his heart,
he found a vacant chicken barn near Pine Lake, Washington and started building. |
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| Soon afterwards, a customer asked Charley if
he would turn one of his portable buildings into a backyard greenhouse.
Charley went about building it, putting it on his trusty, old Ford pickup,
and delivering it to his first elated greenhouse customer! He quickly saw
a niche market that wasn't being met and launched into building hobby greenhouses.
Business soon expanded by word of mouth from satisfied customers. |
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Charley
and Carol Yaw, 1974 with 1st roadside greenhouse display
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| Charley's Catalog is Born |
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| Local, commercial suppliers were not interested
in selling hobby gardeners small quantities of pots, propagation mats, lights
and other growing accessories for their greenhouses. Increasingly, customers
were asking Charley to help them source equipment and supplies for their
new greenhouses. |
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1975
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| How about a catalog? |
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| Since Charley had been born and raised in Sitka,
Alaska on a remote island, shopping by catalog was a way of life instilled
in his genes early on. It was a big event when the ship docked in town with
catalog goods families had been anxiously waiting for. The Yaw family story
goes, when Charley was born on Christmas Eve, his 6-year-old sister even
thought Charley was a Christmas present his parents had ordered from the
familiar Sears and Roebuck Catalog! |
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1978
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| So it was destiny that Charley and his wife,
Carol, put together the first 15-page, black-and-white supply catalog for
their greenhouse customers. Money was scarce and they only had enough to
print 400 catalogs. The initial reception, however, was overwhelming. They
soon began mailing catalogs out to all parts of the country. |
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1981
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| Steady, Slow Growth |
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| Carol supported the family, which now included
two young children in those early years, by teaching elementary school.
This enabled Charley's to continue to grow. As greenhouse demand increased,
Charley added new greenhouse lines first from England, then Germany and
later China to the supply catalog. Specialized hobby greenhouse equipment
and supply offerings expanded as Charley's became the USA's #1 supplier. |
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1989
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| Innovative propagation, lighting, easier gardening,
solar, building materials, and other unique gardening products continued
to make their way into the catalog. Catalog editions, size and circulation
steadily increased. |
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1992
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| Please come visit us - but
make sure you know which Mt. Vernon! |
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| Charley's has outgrown its facilities several
times over the years as we've continued to add products, offices and staff.
Currently we occupy 25,000 sq. ft. in two facilities in the fertile Skagit
Valley of Mt. Vernon, Washington - home of the internationally acclaimed
Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. |
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1996
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| FLASH! Every year or so we have a customer
who calls us from Washington, D.C. and says they're planning on stopping
by on their lunch hour, thinking we're in Mt. Vernon, Virginia instead of
Mt. Vernon, Washington! We're glad they called in advance and wonder about
the ones who didn't call? |
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| We delight in having our mail order customers
from all over the USA stop in to see us when they're coming through. We've
talked on the phone and e-mailed with so many of you over the years. It's
a special pleasure for us to greet you and thank you in person for your
continued support. |
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2000
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| Charleysgreenhouse.com |
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| In 1997, the company went online. Today you'll
find hundreds of quality products online, plus helpful greenhouse and gardening
tips. The web continues to be a dynamic marketing tool that is dramatically
reshaping Charley's current and future business. |
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2001
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| Today at Charley's |
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| From that first portable building Charley turned
into a backyard greenhouse, our greenhouse lines have evolved considerably.
Today we offer 18 different styles of the best hobby greenhouses available
worldwide. We have extensive sizes, home-attached models, plus customization
for many of them. Our knowledgeable greenhouse consultants are available
7 days a week by phone and online to help you every step of the way from
choosing your greenhouse through growing those tomatoes in it! From Charley's
first local Ford pickup delivery we have grown to shipping greenhouses daily
all over the USA plus internationally. |
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2003
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2004
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| Our catalog equipment and supply product lines
have expanded from the first 400 to over 1,200 hard-to-find greenhouse and
garden items for serious gardeners. From those first 400 catalogs we gave
to customers, we now print and mail over 1 1/2 million annually. |
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| What's in a name? |
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| The idea to name our business Charley's Greenhouse
Supplies, after Charley who started it was a no brainer. The most common
spelling however is Charlie's Greenhouse by many of our customers and even
some of our employees still. Through the years, our name has gone through
a few changes that reflect the growth of the company. In 1997, we officially
became Charley's Greenhouses & Indoor Growing Supplies. By 1999, we
added "gardening supplies" to the tag line. And by 2001, the company
had grown so much that we felt the name Charley's Greenhouse & Garden
said it all and said it best. |
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2005
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2006
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| Well it is not surprising to find that even after
33 years, Charlies Greenhouse is still a common misspelling of our company
name on letters, mail order checks, and in search engine results. No matter
— whether you find us as Charleys Greenhouse or Charlies Greenhouses
(without the apostrophe), or maybe Charlies Greenhouse Supply, or just plain
Charley's you've come to the right place for hobby greenhouse kits and supplies. |
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2007
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| Charley's Secret To Success |
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| From that first greenhouse Charley built and
sold, superior customer service and support has been the guiding
principle. Charley's mission statement has stood the test of time and still
says it all - |
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2008
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"In a friendly and supportive work environment, we seek to provide
excellent customer service, quality greenhouses and innovative products
to greenhouse and indoor gardeners. We are dedicated to assisting gardeners
of all ages to enjoy gardening in harmony with nature." |
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Charley's staff is very proud of, and works hard to maintain, our long-standing
reputation as innovative leaders in the USA for hobby greenhousing. You'll
find our excellent customer service and knowledge second to none!
Welcome to Charley's!
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2008
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If you have questions or wish additional information, please contact
our friendly, knowledgeable staff.
Questions? Contact us.
Please call us Toll Free at 1-800-322-4707 or
FAX us at 1-800-233-3078 or come on in and Visit
our Retail Store.
Explore our easy to navigate helpful Greenhouse
Gardening Tips and Greenhouse
Construction Tips here on our website. You may just find the information
you are looking for.
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