ST. LOUIS — A beloved south St. Louis and Imperial garden nursery will be permanently closing its doors at the end of the month.
Bayer’s Garden Shop announced its business is closing, citing “dramatic increases in operating costs” along with a staffing shortage.
The garden center has been in business for 81 years. Bayer's Garden Shop has one location in south city along Hampton Avenue and one in Imperial on Old State Road.
“Bayer’s Garden Shop would like to thank you for over 81 years and 3 generations of choosing them for your gardening needs. So stop on by with those unused gift certificates, say goodbye, and own a piece of Bayer’s Garden Shop history,” the business wrote in its message to customers.
The nursery opened in 1941 by the Bayer family and has been family owned ever since, the Bayer’s Garden Shop website states.
The garden shop’s announcement on Facebook sparked an outpouring of memories, shock, support and sadness from the business’s followers. As of Monday afternoon, there were thousands of reactions, comments and shares.
“This is crushing news. I can’t imagine this neighborhood without you,” one devastated customer said.
“You’ve been an anchor in the Lindenwood Park neighborhood for as long as I can remember. We will miss you!” said someone else of the south city shop.
"Some of my favorite memories are being like 5 years old in 1985 and running thru the greenhouses at the Imperial location while my mom yelled at me to stop. Thank you to Bayer's for all the wonderful years!" another customer commented.
“This is so heartbreaking. I've shopped here since I was in my 20s. I'm now in my 60s. I'm so sad,” added another loyal customer.
"I'm 62 years old and probably 50 years I've been shopping here," Patty Welch said Monday afternoon.
"Actually over 60 years," Ken Gentsch said.
"My family's been coming here since the 70s," Tracie Sanderlin said.
It's where Sanderlin's memories thrive.
"My mom passed 21 years ago, but it was a family tradition. Every Mother's Day we would come as a family even when I was a little bitty. My dad would pull the cart, those big flatbed carts, and my mom would just point at everything she wanted," Sanderlin said. "Just rows and rows of flowers, and I would play with the Snapdragons and make them talk to each other.
Bayer's Garden Shop is offering a 10% discount on trees and shrubs until they permanently close both locations on June 30.
The owners opened the Hampton Avenue location in 1941.
They opened the location in Imperial, Missouri in the 1960s.