Hines Horticulture, based in Irvine, California filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company is one of the nation's largest growing operations with seven facilities spanning 4,000 acres of outdoor and greenhouse production in Arizona, California, Texas and Oregon. A 244 page document filed in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court reveals Hines owes more than $192.6 million to unsecured creditors with non priority claims. Ahead of them are secured creditors, like banks, and all tax collecting government agencies where Hines operates. - Millet

This is sad news. I am wondering what caused them to turn the page to Chapter 11.

Really sad news. They supply most of the Home Depots in the southeast with citrus.

www.marketwatch.com/news/story/hort.net/story.aspx?guid=%7BC266A860-DFEA-45BF-8A9A-7411F4CC94F3%7D

I too think it's sad, but on certain plant forums I've heard some very unsympathetic comments about them, essentially saying they deserved what they got, since they aligned with big box stores. By selling 15 gallon trees at HD for $29.99 and only getting paid for what HD sold (dead plants are returned to Hines and not paid for) they managed to first put a lot of other small nurseries out of business by undercutting their prices, and then put themselves out of business too, by not making enough money. While we all hope that getting cheap plants at HD or Lowes might lead more people to gardening and thus to support other greenhouse or garden centers (or getting cheap citrus, for that matter), is there proof that really happens? Anyhoo, here's a comment from the Plant Delights Nursery newsletter that explains further:

In nursery news, another giant bit the dust last week, when Hines Nurseries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Hines has asked the bankruptcy court to seek a bidder for all Hines's assets which will allow it to continue to operate as a nursery for now. If you haven't heard of Hines Nurseries, they were the largest nursery in the US only a few years ago. Hines has undergone a series of transformations since the 1970's, from being owned by Weyerhaeuser, to being employee owned, to being publicly owned, to being venture capitol-owned. Over the last couple of decades, Hines grew at a rapid pace by gobbling up other large growers throughout the US. This rapid growth strategy, the decision to put most of their eggs in the price-sensitive, pay-by-scan mass-market basket, and the tragic decision to become a public company via stock offerings, kept Hines teetering on the brink of disaster for the last several years. Despite recently selling off many of their most valuable nursery properties across the country, a couple of years of bad weather and the economic slowdown proved to be the tipping point in driving Hines and their 500 million dollar debt into Chapter 11. This sad chapter is another reminder that in our industry, big isn't always better. I hope all of the unsecured creditors including Conard-Pyle Nursery, Syngenta Seeds, and Ball Horticultural Company are able to survive this huge financial blow. Far too often the domino effect on creditors is as bad as it is for the company which files Chapter 11.

As a follow up on the next to last sentence in Susan's post, here is a list of some of the top Hines creditors. They are unsecured creditors and will probably not receive any money at all, or a very minimal sum.

Sun Gro Horticultural - $550,557.00
Ball Seed - $445,807.00
Syngenta Seeds - $516,888.00
Wilbur-Ellis Co. (A Calif. company) $146,263.00
Western Farm Service ( Calif. Company) $158,352.00
Conrad Pyle Nursery - $208,026.00
Magnolia Gardens Nursery - $140,800.00
Plus many, many,many more

It will be hard on the above companies, who will not get paid for the products that they sold to Hines.

Millet

Having been stung by the label "unsecured creditor" in a Chapter 11 protection in the past, I can appreciate how helpless these companies must feel. As a small sole proprietor, our loss was certainly not of that order of magnitude, however, neither is our profit margin. I have a feeling that this story will be retold often in the coming months and years. It is a vicious cycle, not easily broken. Barbara

Since I grow everything in pots, I can imagine spending that much on Sungro potting soil, but I can't imagine spending over a million dollars on seed. I don't even know what the other creditors represent. Boggles the mind!

At one time Hines used to own SunGro. - Millet

It sounds like the downturn in the economy is branching outside of the real estate and banking sectors rapidly. Maybe there's a bright side in all of it. I think fundamentally that hardships make things better in the future once they've past. People don't appreciate what they have more.

Phillip

What with ag regulations and all the stores here in Florida may be different from the rest of the country. I've bought citrus from a lot of different places since I first got into this, but none at all from my local Home Depot. They just never have anything that I want. Lowes on the other hand I've bought nearly a dozen plants from.

Organisms can grow too much too fast whether it's a tree or a corporation.

.....Alan.