Picadilly Nursery to close after 27 years

    Picadilly Nursery has been helping Brighton grow for 27 years.
    But the longtime family-owned Brighton business will close its doors this fall.

Photo by Kevin Denke

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Photo by Kevin Denke

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Photo by Kevin Denke

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Photo by Kevin Denke

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Photo by Kevin Denke

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    Shayla Rock calls it a change in “game plan.” She said Picadilly plans to switch its focus from tree and plant sales to wholesale vegetable production.
    Rock said the nursery business comes with its normal ups and downs like any business.
    “We still have our customers that have been coming here forever that still supported us,” she said. “Probably, people aren’t planting quite as much as they did in years past in their yards, and there’s not as much building going on either.”
    She said it was “just a big family decision” reached about a month ago to take the business in a different direction.
    Dave Rock, who started the business in 1984, is part of two generations of Rock family members who work at the nursery on land farmed by the Rock family since the 1950s. He is joined by sons, Davey and Luke Rock.
    One of the most important factors in making the decision to close the nursery was keeping their five full-time employees and two part-time employees on staff.
    As for the business of closing down a nursery, it’s a process they are learning one day at a time. Trees and shrubs are half- price and garden statuaries are 30 percent off their regular price. The sale will continue until they have cleared out their inventory.
    The Rock family wants to thank the community for their many years of support.