Metrolina Greenhouses celebrates 50 years in business

Metrolina Greenhouses, the largest single-site, heated wholesale greenhouse operation in the U.S., celebrates its 50 year anniversary on April 26, 2022.

The privately owned producer of ornamental plants, including annuals, perennials, shrubs and trees, spans more than 200 acres of greenhouses and 1,000 acres of land in Huntersville, North Carolina and York, South Carolina. 

Founded in 1972 on one acre in Huntersville, North Carolina by Tom and Vickie VanWingerden, who came to the U.S. from the Netherlands in 1971 with $500 and a dream, Metrolina Greenhouses has grown over the past 50 years to become one of the largest and most innovative greenhouse operations in the world.

Today, Metrolina Greenhouses is owned and led by Tom and Vickie's six children - co-CEOs Abe and Art, co-COOs Michael and Thomas, and board of directors members Helen and Rose. Metrolina Greenhouses employs 800 year-round, full-time team members with the addition of 400 seasonal workers during peak production.

The company grows and supplies 75 million garden plants annually, selling plants at 1,400 retail outlets in 19 states across the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions for Lowe's Home Improvement, The Home Depot and Walmart. In the past year, Metrolina Greenhouses began fulfilling online orders for these retailers, shipping plants directly to consumers' homes in 50 states.

Co-CEO Abe VanWingerden said his family and business team are thankful to everyone who helped get Metrolina Greenhouses to where it is today, from the previous generation including Metrolina's founders and the extended VanWingerden family, to Metrolina Greenhouses' employees, retail partners and vendors. VanWingerden added the company lauds its history while looking at its 50th anniversary as a springboard for the future.

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Photo courtesy of Metrolina Greenhouses

Source: Greenhouse Management