Mills Greenhouse: Serving the community for about 25 years

Mills Greenhouse has been in business for about 25 years. Pictured, Johnny Mills, who along with his wife, Carla, owns the business.

By Greg Miller
Star Staff
gmiller@starhq.com

   Mills Greenhouse, 2755 U.S. Highway 19-E, has been in business for about 25 years.
   "I started this business with very little idea of what I was doing or where I wanted to go with this business," said Johnny Mills, who along with his wife, Carla, owns Mills Greenhouse.
   "The business was started on land that was a cow pasture and a tobacco patch. I am very proud of the fact that I was able to develop a business that allowed me to support my family and to stay in Elizabethton. As Carla and Hannon got more involved with the business, we were able to grow and expand into other areas such as landscaping and water gardens.
   "We want to continue to be a part of our community and to offer the best plants found anywhere," Mills said of his primary goal for this year. "We also hope to continue to grow the landscape and maintenance part of the business."
   Customer service is an integral aspect of the business, according to Mills. "Customer service IS our business," he said. "We have built a business that relies on taking time for our customers. We have a swing on the front of our checkout area. It is very rare that someone is not sitting in it and swinging. We always want to take time and visit. It is the country way, it is the way my daddy ran his business and he was a wonderful role model. In this day of big box stores, one of the ways that a small business can compete is to slow down and take time with our customers."
   Landscape manager Hannon Howard designs and installs the water gardens with fiber-optic lighting. "Han is the man," Mills said. "He does all the designing and installation. It is amazing what he can do with computer design! One of the new trends in water features is what they call a pondless water garden. We are starting to install them in areas where streams are hard to fit into the landscape. He is also doing some great rock work in the landscape, boulders and outdoor fire pits."
   Mills says he doesn't think of his business as exciting. "I think of it as satisfying," he said. "When people come to the greenhouse and say things like 'These are the nicest plants I've seen anywhere,' that makes us feel good. Carla and Hannon and myself are people oriented. We love where we live, and what we do. We hope to be a part of this community for a long time to come."
   The business has seven greenhouses. "That's about 15,000 square feet of growing area," Mills said. "Then we have several cold frames that we grow perennials in and over winter shrubbery. When I started, I had two greenhouses that I cut into halves and made four small houses." The total growing area was about 5,000 square feet.
   The company has about five year-round employees. In the spring, that number increases to 9-10 workers.
   Mills says that "without a doubt" the number one event in his and Carla's life last year was welcoming their grandson, Holston Howard, into the world.
   The hours of operation at Mills Greenhouse "change as we get further into the spring," Mills said. "Right now, we are selling a lot of mulch so we are open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. We will be open longer and on Saturdays as we get further into the spring."
   For more information, call 543-6330.