Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Fasel.
Nathan, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
Fasel and Sons Garden Center was started in 1963 by my grandfather Ralph Fasel. He was an incredibly admirable, hard-working man who was the epitome of the American dream. He never went to college and made something of himself, built our business from the ground up, and provided for his family. In 1997, he sold the business to his sons Marty, Phil, and Ron (who left the business a number of years ago to pursue another career) and they continued to build and expand our business. Since then, my dad (Phil), his brother Marty, and a longtime manager of ours Sandy (or Red as some people know him) grew the business into what it is today: A thriving retail garden center that prides itself on quality of product and provides outstanding customer care. I am the next generation (3rd) to carry on our family business and I very much look forward to keeping our business alive.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
All in all, we have had a pretty smooth road. We have gone through a lot of changes over the years from building infrastructure to land re-allocation. Every headache that came about seems to work out just fine in the long run.
We are a family run business so I don’t think much more needs to be said about how tempers can sometimes flair and disagreements can be had. But at the end of the day, we all want what is best for our business and we always seem to work everything out in the end.
Please tell us about Fasel and Sons Garden Center.
We pride ourselves on our vast selection of flowering annuals, vegetables, herbs, trees, shrubs, and evergreens. We have over 180 varieties of fruits and vegetables alone. Our flowering hanging baskets are the best you can find on the south side and our combination patio planters brighten up any front porch or patio.
One of our greatest points of pride is our knowledgeable, friendly staff. Our staff carries multiple degrees in horticulture and landscape design training. We have the knowledge base that our customers need when anything is wrong with their plants or they simply want some help designing their landscape or patio pots.
We offer free professional landscape design to all of our customers. This is something that most design firms would charge hundreds of dollars for. We have 3 landscape designers on staff that work with customers 1 on 1 to build them the landscape of their dreams.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
In hindsight, I can honestly say the only thing we would have done differently would be our store layout. Our parking lot can get a little bit over-crowded in the spring time! Every other major decision that we have made I would make again and again.
Contact Info:
- Address: 10841 S. Cicero Ave
Oak Lawn, IL 60453 - Website: www.faselandsons.com
- Phone: 708 422 5335
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/faselandsons/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/faselandsons
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