Secluded Acres Farm & Garden Center
In a small community, it’s not unusual to see family-run businesses. After all, it’s how communities were built, long before big box stores entered our collective consciousness. From pet stores and restaurants to gift shops and ice cream parlors, Cape May Magazine is no stranger to featuring locally owned, often family-run, small businesses.
And while we admire them all, it’s safe to say that the award for the cutest family representative from our local businesses currently goes to 10-month-old Everett Mills at Secluded Acres Farm & Garden Center.
“Say hi, Everett,” says his mother, Diane Frank Mills, who’s handling the checkout counter at the front of the store.
Just behind her sits Everett, smiling and waving in a booster seat while nibbling on baby snacks. Everett accompanies his mom to work several days a week, and though he’s not yet answering customer questions, he’s as much a part of the action as anyone else. With light blond hair and bright blue eyes, he could easily be a Gerber Baby. Instead, he’s fast becoming the newest face of a multi-generation family business. A really cute one.
Diane’s father, Bill Frank Jr., opened Secluded Acres Farm & Garden Center with his wife back in 1984. As Diane says, “It was just something my dad always wanted to do.” As such, Diane and her sister spent their own childhoods running through the center, getting dropped off by the bus after school, and participating, like her grandfather Bill Frank Sr. and uncle Tom Frank, in the family business—much like Diane’s own son is beginning to do already.
“It’s definitely full circle,” says Diane. “I don’t remember it, but a few of our original customers do, and I’ve seen photos of me in the store in a playpen and carrier.”
While Everett gets to sit front and center behind the register, there’s an entire corner dedicated to baby equipment, with everything from a playpen full of toys, pack and play, highchair, and changing table. It’s set up for family, which is what Secluded Acres is all about.
“I couldn’t have Everett here if I didn’t have the support of my staff,” says Diane. “It’s a work family. I’m very thankful for the people we have around us so we can grow like we do on a regular basis.”
And though everyone in the family has a story—Tom’s dog Molly walks through the center at her leisure, greeting customers with a nuzzle, while his retired shovel graces the wall after years of digging out flowers—Secluded Acres has a way of making everyone feel like they’re a part of things. Long-time customers are there to make purchases or ask questions, of course, but they spend a decent amount of time chatting with Diane, cooing at Everett, and sharing their own news.
“I think it’s important to be part of our community,” says Diane. “And after 40 years, that’s a lot of time. We’ve gotten to know folks over time, and we take great care in what we’re growing. We’ve seen families grow and keep coming through. I love what we do and think it’s all part of the small community factor.”
Of course, a local business can’t run on community engagement alone; they’ve got to have something to offer. And Secluded Acres has so very much.
From hardscaping materials, garden décor, bird feeders, native grasses, flowers, pond plants, seeds, mulch, and plants galore, Secluded Acres Farm & Garden Center is an oasis of greenery, all available from mid-March through Christmas Eve. Things change by season, with a very busy prime planting time in the spring, and then pumpkins and corn stalks and straw and field mums in September and October. By December, the store is transformed for Christmas, with a small train display, loads of greenery, cut Christmas trees, balled and burlap trees that can be planted after the holidays, handmade grave blankets, poinsettias, wreaths, and garland.
Just as important as what they’ve got on hand, however, is where it’s coming from.
“We grow almost all of our own annuals, the bedding flats, trays of flowers, hanging baskets,” says Diane. “Field grown mums was one of the first things we started doing. These days, most are pot raised. Ours are still planted in the field and Tom literally digs up every single one of them.”
And what they don’t have, they supplement with plants from other local growers, with whom they have long-time relationships. If they still don’t have it, they’ll refer customers to other local garden centers.
“In our area, there are several mom-and-pop small garden centers,” says Diane. “I always tell people; I’d rather send you to one of the other family businesses because it’s all a part of keeping it in the community. We have an opportunity to make a positive impact.”
It’s not just the plants either. Whether it’s Amish and Mennonite-made garden décor like lighthouses and outhouses, or birdhouses made right in Cape May County from former police officer Marty Bierschbach, Secluded Acres places an emphasis on hand-made, locally grown goods, and on the personal touch that those things represent.
With big box stores right around the corner, that personal touch goes a long way. “We’re very busy, but we have the opportunity, the background and experience, to talk to our customers,” says Diane. “Secluded Acres is a good place for coming in with questions. I’m not sure they have that same opportunity at the big box store.”
And unlike some other small businesses that are forced to contend with big box deals and promotions, Secluded Acres has the added benefit of cost efficiency.
“With the hard-good materials, the box store often beats us on price because of the volume they are able to pump out,” says Diane. “But when it comes to plant material, I think sometimes we are pretty comparable. And we’re giving the plants personal care so we’ve got the quality, and some more unique things than a box store might offer.”
Whether it’s seasonal clientele, or folks coming in for the annual planting only to return for their holiday greenery, everyone gets to feel like part of the family at Secluded Acres Farm & Garden Center, contributing to a long-standing community business.
