Store Locations – A Brief History

Each of the GARDENWORKS stores had its own interesting and very different beginning.  The history of each of our store openings is as follows:

The Burnaby Store, located at 6250 Lougheed Highway in Burnaby, BC is our largest store in both area and sales volume.  This 5 acre complete destination garden centre facility was acquired in 1984.  It boasts our most complete selection of fine home and garden products which are sold from under its 24,000 square feet of inside space, an additional 12,000 square feet of covered space, and a 2 acre outdoor sales area.

The store was renovated in 1998 and our grand entry was created.  Again in 2005 the store was renovated and the East and West greenhouses were rebuilt.  This established an area double the previous size for the sale of annuals and perennials – our fastest growing categories.

Our first Vancouver Island store opened in Saanich at 4290 Blenkinsop Road in May of 1987.  This location had been previously operated as Den Alan Nurseries, a nursery stock grower and retailer.

It is a beautiful site of approximately 11 acres sloping to Blenkinsop Lake and is about15 minutes from downtown Victoria.  The GardenWorks store occupies the front portion of the property while the side and rear is leased to C & C Growers who utilize the remainder of the land and greenhouses. This company provides a regular supply of annuals and perennials to all our Island and Mainland stores.

The Oak Bay store opened in a unique location at 1916 Oak Bay Avenue, it occupies an old home that had been renovated and used as a lumber store and then a produce store.  Oak Bay is our smallest store in area, but successfully serves a high volume of neighborhood guests.  In May 2000 the store almost doubled in size with the addition of “The Potting Shed” – additional selling space devoted to furniture, gift and garden supplies.  In the spring of 2005 we added space at the rear of the store, allowing us to create a “cottage” of pottery, lattice, trellis and other garden decor. The address is 1916 Oak Bay Avenue, Victoria.

Our third Vancouver Island store opened in the Victoria suburb of Colwood at 1859 Island Highway.  This location was previously operated as a Suzuki car dealership, the showroom was converted to retail selling space and the outside paved and well-lighted sales lot was enhanced with a custom designed greenhouse.  This location is well-situated to take advantage of the rapid growth in Victoria’s western communities.

January of 1993 marked the official unveiling of GARDENWORKS and the change of our identity from Art Knapp Plantland to GARDENWORKS.  This was a significant milestone for the company as it represented a formal beginning to developing our own unique operation with a fresh new focus and strategic plan on how we conduct our business operations as guests know it today.

Our second North Shore store continues a 50 year tradition started by the Whyte family of North Vancouver.  The store is located on Marine Drive at Bewicke, even though the address is 705 West Third Street. The property is approximately one-half acre and the store is about 8000 square feet. A new 3000 sq. ft. greenhouse was added in 2000.

For over 50 years, Mandeville Gardens operated at 4746 Marine Drive, founded by the Kuypers family.  The family moved to BC in the late 1940’s, started market gardening and eventually grew bedding plants and established their garden centre.  The garden centre has long been considered one of the premiere garden centres in British Columbia and had been owned and operated by Summer Winds Garden Centres from1998 to 2005.

GARDENWORKS at Mandeville was acquired in January, 2005.  The store was completely renovated in the early 1990’s to incorporate a much larger covered selling area for annuals and perennials, an attractive floral and gift area, and the first café in a garden centre in BC.  The store is large, on a 4.5 acre site, with 60,000 sq. ft. of indoor selling space, and an additional 40,000 sq. ft. of selling space outside.

GARDENWORKS Penticton began in 1982 as Art Knapp Plantland, owned and operated by Henry and Marg King. In January of 2015, after 32 years at the helm, owners Henry and Marg King retired and passed the garden centre on.  With a new name — GARDENWORKS.

This location at 670 Duncan Ave. West, operates not only a garden centre, it also has a full-service floral shop, and a growing facility in Trout Creek.  The growing facility allows the store to locally produce many of their own annuals, perennials, shrubs, roses and trees, adding variety and value to the plant selection in Penticton.