In late March, Darvonda Nurseries of Langley, B.C. and Redcliff, Alta. learned that its largest wholesale buyer would not be able to accept the majority of its season’s spring plant order.
Lawrence Jansen, the owner of Darvonda Nurseries, needed a solution to sell up to 80 per cent of its annual vegetable and potting plants grown in Alberta and British Columbia or risk survival of its third-generation business. He explained the situation to James Heaps, the head of M&A and business advisory services at Avison Young, and the groundwork for a solution was put in place.
James Heaps
In four weeks, Lawrence Jansen alongside Heaps, Hani Abdelkader and Travis McElroy at Avison Young worked on a plan that saw the creation of seven pop-up locations throughout Alberta and Saskatchewan. “We worked with Lawrence to effectively create seven businesses in one month,” says Heaps.
“We believe we have a win, win, win solution; we win by working with communities and providing our product to our customers, real estate owners win by gaining a short-term solution with no additional cost; and fortunately, we now have a plan in place to help our business survive,” says Jansen.
“The support and rallying around business attitude we have seen has been unprecedented. We need to thank the Tsuut’ina Nation, City of Calgary, City of Edmonton, City of Red Deer and all the real estate landlords we have worked with for their help in navigating a different way of doing business,” says Abdelkader.
“The impact of COVID-19 is challenging the survival of many Canadian businesses, but at the
same time businesses are rethinking how they operate, how to get their value proposition in front of consumers differently than in the past and how to implement new ways of doing business that align with social distancing and health practices,” says Heaps. “At Avison Young, we are working closely with our clients to navigate these unprecedented times and to see new opportunity for growth through new ways of doing business.”
