Bell Nursery Closes Its Doors, Leaving Howard Co. For Kentucky

ELKRIDGE, MD — A wholesale grower in Howard County has closed, forcing its 42 employees to either work at another location or walk away.

Bell Nursery shut down its Elkridge location Sept. 26. Located at 7111 Troy Hill Drive, Bell Nursery provides flowers and plants for Central Garden & Pet at Home Depot. Of the 42 employees affected, 15 chose severance packages and 27 were offered positions at other Bell Nursery locations, said Friederike Edelmann, vice president of investor relations and corporate sustainability at Central Garden & Pet.

Edelmann attributed the closer to a "cost and simplicity" initiative, reported The Baltimore Sun.

Bell Nursery has operated out of Elkridge since 2011. The Howard County location functioned as the company’s corporate headquarters and distribution center serving the DMW, but leaders have bought a larger facility in Kentucky.

Bell Nursery has also acquired a larger facility in Kentucky, where it will move its operations. This is all part of a bigger plan to stay “sustainable and financially healthy in the long term,” she said.