Bill Manville bought his plants and flowers from Rau Florist & Greenhouse years ago.
"Even then I knew I wanted to own something like this," he said.
The Wathena, Kan., native got his wish. Mr. Manville purchased the 16-acre business and opened Blooming Gardens & Landscaping, located at 4607 Savannah Road, the former Rau site in St. Joseph.
He plans to operate the St. Joseph location while his sister, Donna Lance, will continue to manage the original business in Wathena.
Mr. Manville said he will do some wholesaling.
"This is a pretty big operation," he said.
The new business has added a large gift shop for gardening and landscaping, with statuary as well as a full-service landscaping service.
Blooming Gardens & Landscaping plans to add nurseries in the future. There will no longer be a florist shop at the location.
In 1918, Rudolph Rau opened Rau's Florist & Greenhouse. Joyloise Rau ran the operation for years and was president of the Rau Corp. when it closed last year.
Mr. Manville said he wanted the established business because of his obvious love for plants.
"But I'd hate to see anything that's been around this long just go," he said. "I am thankful to the generations of Raus for doing such an amazing job for so many years."
Kristin Emmendorfer, a fourth generation in the Rau family, will continue working at Blooming Gardens & Landscaping. Her great-grandfather and grandfather had started the business. She and her brother grew up working in the greenhouses with their father and uncle.
Because of the Rau family's continued success, Mr. Manville is sure he will retain many of the business' regular customers.
And Mr. Manville plans to bring his knowledge and experience to St. Joseph as well. For the past 23 years, he has run a successful landscaping business in Florida.
Mr. Manville, Ms. Lance and their staff have been working since January growing their own products, preparing for this month's opening season. Besides vegetables, greenery and flowers, Blooming Gardens will have tropical plants, too. The nursery is open for the current season Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Business reporter Jennifer Hall can be reached
at jennhall@npgco.com
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