By KYLE LOWRY, New Albany Tribune
klowry@news-tribune.net
NEW ALBANY — Business is blooming for husband and wife Ann Streckfus and Stephen Brown in the back of their Main Street home.
The couple are the owners of one of the top online garden businesses, EarthlyGoods.com, which they operate out of the carriage house behind their brightly colored orange home on Mansion Row.
Streckfus and Brown’s foray into the world of custom seed packets, gardening supplies and gifts began in 1993 after a brainstorming session when the two made the decision to start their own business.
“We made a list of things we were good at,” Streckfus said. “Stephen was a graphic designer and I was interested in gardening.
“The start-up would be relatively small and the seeds wouldn’t need a lot of inventory space.”
The two definitely made the right choice when deciding on what business to pursue since gardening is the No. 1 hobby in the U.S.
The couple’s original gardening venture, Earthly Goods, Ltd., operated as a mail order business until they boosted their company profile by putting it on the Internet under the moniker EarthlyGoods. com.
In 1998, the success of the ecommerce venture allowed Streckfus to devote her energies full-time to EarthlyGoods.com and quit her previous position with a corporate branding firm in Louisville. Brown also left his marketing job that same year to start his own design firm, Mind’s Eye Creative, as well as handle the graphic design and marketing duties for the online gardening business. Their carriage house has been remodeled into a workspace with side-by-side offices and a small storage facility for goods.
“We work well together,” Brown said.
The couple’s 7-year-old daughter Rosie also helps her parents by helping to pack shipments and sort seed packets.
“I can’t imagine working for anybody else after being the one who made all the decisions,” Streckfus said.
During the first year Streckfus worked full-time for the e-gardening business, their profit margin tripled.
And the workload continues to blossom.
“We’ve seen an average of 40 percent growth each year,” Brown said. “We average 10,000 visitors a month to the Web site.”
“People always garden, so fortunately, we’ve never seen a drought in our business,” Streckfus added.
Even Hollywood has taken notice of the couple’s endeavor.
They designed custom seed packets for the movie, “Uncle Nino” and made a Beekeeper Mix that is included in special editions of Tori Amos' latest CD “The Beekeeper.”
“The business has taken some different turns,” Streckfus said.
While custom seed packets for all occasions still make up about 30 percent of EarthlyGoods.com’s revenue, the two New Albany residents are constantly looking for new products to add to their site.
“We spend a lot of time researching new ideas and we try to find unique products than what you would see at your typical garden center,” Brown said.
Upcoming items to be featured include a pewter set of Tinkling Toadstools garden decor, children's sandboxes and gardening tools, birdhouses and a Christmas ornaments.