MILL VALLEY, Calif. (KCBS) -- Once a darling of the Marin County good life, high-end garden retailer Smith and Hawken will go out of business by the end of the year. Liquidation is already underway at the company's six Bay Area stores.
KCBS' Margie Shafer Reports
Smith and Hawken was founded 30 years ago in Mill Valley as a garden tool importer. It was purchased in 2004 by Scotts Miracle-Gro, but now its closing its doors.
"With the economy and the markets the way they are, this is just something we needed to do for the overall business," said Scotts Miracle-Gro spokesman Su Lok from company headquarters in Ohio. 200 Bay Area employees will lose their jobs, along with 130 associates and 70 employees at the corporate offices.
"That's very sad for me, it's very very sad to see a lovely neighborhood institution leaving our area," said Marilyn Schmitt, who is a regular at the Mmith and Hawkens store in Burlingame.
Everything in the store has been marked down by 20 percent, with furniture up to 30 percent off. Those discounts will get deeper as the December closing date approaches. There are currently 56 Smith and Hawken stores, six of them in the Bay Area.
(MGO)
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