On November 1, 1972 William "Bill" Claussen purchased Carpenter Greenhouses and started Claussen’s Greenhouses. Hard work, due diligence and knowledge of how to grow and sell great plants has always been our philosophy since day one.
Bill set the bar high and that has always been the expectation that we have achieved through hard work. He built the greenhouses with the help of his energetic staff, from morning until night, through sweat and tears as he had a vision. For years, Bill worked on making his dreams come true. From the beginning, he ran the cash registers, did the books, cared for the plants and managed the entire business almost single-handedly. Bill is an astute businessman with a firm touch. He knew what his goals were and did not stop until he surpassed them. His kind of energy and commitment to excellence is what our company is built on today. Although he is semi-retired, Bill remains the inspiration and backbone of our company, along with Chris Conant (co-owner and Vice President). Chris started in the business in the 1970s possessing a love of flowers and people. Chris’s dedication to fostering lasting relationships with our customers, along with Bill’s devotion and that of over 35 employees, awarded Claussen’s Florist & Greenhouse ‘Vermont Retailer of the Year for 2008’.
In the mid 1980s it became apparent that the floral industry was beginning to change. To stay competitive, Claussen’s had to balance its’ focus between growing quality plants and serving the needs of our retail customers. In order to stand out from the retail chains and grocery stores selling plants and floral bouquets, Bill brought on Brenda Wheel. Brenda specialized in producing individualized floral designs and maintaining the retail shop complete with novelty items and silk arrangements. Brenda is still a part of our amazing team today and serves as our Florist & Retail Manager. Along side Brenda, our talented floral designers maintain a keen eye for design and produce exquisite works of art.
Through the years, Claussen's has had a number of locations throughout Vermont and New York. As our generous public acceptance increased, we decided to expand our current operations (in Colchester Village) by over 500,000 square feet and, in the later years, scaled back on the number of locations we had. This shift is an example of how we are constantly changing to improve customer convenience and company efficiency. In October 2009 Claussen's merged our Perennial Farm location into our Colchester Village location. This allowed all of our operations to be in one location, allowing our customers a one-stop-shop experience.
Loyalty to understanding and fulfilling our customer’s needs is something we pride ourselves on and welcome the opportunity to do so. We are also proud to support many civic groups and local charities, which provide us the good fortune to give back to the communities that support us so strongly.
Bill set the bar high and that has always been the expectation that we have achieved through hard work. He built the greenhouses with the help of his energetic staff, from morning until night, through sweat and tears as he had a vision. For years, Bill worked on making his dreams come true. From the beginning, he ran the cash registers, did the books, cared for the plants and managed the entire business almost single-handedly. Bill is an astute businessman with a firm touch. He knew what his goals were and did not stop until he surpassed them. His kind of energy and commitment to excellence is what our company is built on today. Although he is semi-retired, Bill remains the inspiration and backbone of our company, along with Chris Conant (co-owner and Vice President). Chris started in the business in the 1970s possessing a love of flowers and people. Chris’s dedication to fostering lasting relationships with our customers, along with Bill’s devotion and that of over 35 employees, awarded Claussen’s Florist & Greenhouse ‘Vermont Retailer of the Year for 2008’.
In the mid 1980s it became apparent that the floral industry was beginning to change. To stay competitive, Claussen’s had to balance its’ focus between growing quality plants and serving the needs of our retail customers. In order to stand out from the retail chains and grocery stores selling plants and floral bouquets, Bill brought on Brenda Wheel. Brenda specialized in producing individualized floral designs and maintaining the retail shop complete with novelty items and silk arrangements. Brenda is still a part of our amazing team today and serves as our Florist & Retail Manager. Along side Brenda, our talented floral designers maintain a keen eye for design and produce exquisite works of art.
Through the years, Claussen's has had a number of locations throughout Vermont and New York. As our generous public acceptance increased, we decided to expand our current operations (in Colchester Village) by over 500,000 square feet and, in the later years, scaled back on the number of locations we had. This shift is an example of how we are constantly changing to improve customer convenience and company efficiency. In October 2009 Claussen's merged our Perennial Farm location into our Colchester Village location. This allowed all of our operations to be in one location, allowing our customers a one-stop-shop experience.
Loyalty to understanding and fulfilling our customer’s needs is something we pride ourselves on and welcome the opportunity to do so. We are also proud to support many civic groups and local charities, which provide us the good fortune to give back to the communities that support us so strongly.
