There are changes afoot at Colonial Classics Landscape & Nursery, but longtime shoppers can expect to see familiar faces.
Backed by a group of local investors, Andrew and Jesse Diekhoff have purchased the longtime landscaping business and garden center from Julie and J.T. McCarty. The latterโs father, Jim, opened the business in 1958, and it remained in family hands for the next 66 years.
The winds of change began blowing a few years before the December 2024 sale. Andrew Diekhoff had served as Colonialโs landscape design manager since February 2018. The Reitz Memorial High School grad had formed a strong relationship with the McCartys, which got him thinking about the future. Andrew was ready to take the next step in his career, and he knew the McCartys did not have another generation to carry on the family business. Sentiment also played a part.
โI love the place. I met my wife there.ย J.T. was our wedding officiant. I knew I wasnโt going to make a career change, and I didnโt want to move and start somewhere else. I remember going there with my grandparents,โ he says. โIt seemed like a dream come true to be able to do that, instead of starting from scratch. โฆ I thought, I can pull this off.โ
The McCartys agreed.
โWe felt very good about that transition because we know how much passion he has for the business, and heโs a local person,โ J.T. says.
That last point was significant to the McCartys, who over the years had rebuffed offers to sell to larger corporations.
โColonial is as good as it is because of Andrew and Jesse and all employees there. I wanted to make sure Andrew understood that he kept all these people here. You continue to expound on what weโve got going on here, and youโll be successful,โ J.T. says.
Andrew stresses heโs not trying to reinvent the business on Epworth Road, even if some new services โ like an irrigation department โ are on tap.
โWe want to build on the foundation thatโs already there. We donโt want to do things differently as much as we want to add to what weโre doing,โ he says. โHaving the longevity itโs had, you donโt get there by being big. You offer quality service, being fair, taking care of staff and customers, and offering a good, quality product, whether itโs something in garden center or a project at someoneโs house. You deliver a trustworthy service.โ
โI think Iโm kind of surprised that Iโm not more nervous about it than I am,โ Andrew laughs. โI just know thereโs such a good team in place. We can keep growing.โ
J.T. โknows weโll take care of a legacy thatโs very personal to him,โ Andrew says.
The McCartys, meanwhile, are embracing retirement.
โWhen you close one door, two more open. Julie and I are very adventuresome, and we like to travel. Now, because the good Lordโs been good to me, weโre going to start giving back to society,โ J.T. says. โAndrew is a younger generation, and they have a lot of energy and ideas. We look forward to seeing the next evolution of Colonial Classics.โ
