By Paige Brunclik
David J. Frank used to stop by and visit with friend and industry colleague Tom Lied.
“When David was getting his business rolling, he would stop and talk with me frequently, and we exchanged ideas. I mentored him, and he became a good businessman, and we continued our friendship and idea sharing,” Lied said.
Those initial conversations decades ago set a foundation for many more recently as the two landscape experts this week announced the formation of Lied’s-Frank Residential Landscapes. Lied explained that his company will be folded into Frank’s, forming a new unit that has Lied as the president.
“What we’re doing is taking my talents and Frank’s talents to develop a special delivery for residential clients,” Lied said. He noted that Frank’s corporate landscaping will continue as its own company that Frank will run as president and CEO.
Like many landscaping businesses, Lied’s has been adversely affected by the recession over the last two years. In 2010, Lied’s announced it was closing its retail garden center and focusing on landscape design. Company president Robb Lied – Tom’s son – said at the time that the economy, a downturn in housing and changes with the consumer caused them to refocus their services.
Last September, Simpson Loan Co. filed a foreclosure suit against Lied’s for more than $2 million on four Lied’s parcels in Menomonee Falls and Lisbon. According to records, if the property is not sold by November it will go to sheriff’s auction.
Tom Lied said he and his son began conversations about the best way to move business forward.
“We were looking for the right combination to have our business move forward, but instead of going the route of being extraordinarily competitive, we chose to take a look at joining with someone. We took the best of what Lied’s has learned and what they have learned to combine and offer the best services for the client.
“That’s how it came to be. Decisions were based on a variety of issues. My son, Rob, is the third generation in the Lied’s company, and he and I have had lots of discussions on what to do next, and we put together this arrangement,” Tom Lied said of how the idea for the alliance came about.
Lied said the properties are already for sale. He said the goal is to move the lender out of the picture and sell the land and plant material on it.
“We will be having special sales for neighboring residents and clients (on the plants). That will be happening very soon. We have an accepted offer on part of (the land), and as pieces come together, operations will move to other DJ Frank existing locations,” which are in Glendale, Brookfield and Germantown,” Lied said.
Lied added that while Lied’s has nearly depleted its nursery staff, other employees have moved to Lieds-Frank. A news release announcing the alliance said 30 Lied’s employees have been added to the Frank landscaping team.
“We hope to be adding staff,” in the future with the new company, Lied said. “We’ll continue to do things as wonderful or even more wonderful. We’ll have more talent and more capability.”
We encourage your comments but will strive to remove discussion that contains personal attacks, racial slurs, profanity or other inappropriate material as outlined in our guidelines. We post-moderate comments on most content, but may choose to pre-moderate some comments so please be patient if you don’t see yours appear right way. We also ask for your help by reporting comments you think are inappropriate.
Speak Your Mind