THE GREEN LIFE:

A NEW LEAF DESIGNS AND MAINTAINS PLANTS AT OFFICES ALL AROUND TOWN WATERING WAY: 16 EMPLOYEES KEEP THINGS GROWING

By Fran Daniel
JOURNAL REPORTER

Employees aren't necessarily the ones watering the plants at local companies.

A New Leaf, an interior landscaping and maintenance company, takes care of office plants for 250 commercial clients in the Triad.

Clients include the Embassy Suites and Marriott hotels in downtown Winston-Salem, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., Wachovia Corp., Hanesbrands Inc. and the Winston-Salem Journal.

Anne Sessions (left) and Jan Assimos own interior landscapers A New Leaf. -- Journal Photos by David Rolfe.

A New Leaf has moved several times as it has grown over 30 years. Its operations now are situated at 102 Bishop St.

Sabrina Gregory tends to an array of plants at Embassy Suites.

The company places plants in businesses and keeps a eye on them.

"As far as maintaining the plants, we water them, clean them, prune them, fertilize them, rotate them and replace them as needed," said Jan Assimos, who owns the business with Anne Sessions.

Sessions said that sometimes their plants, which are all tropical, are a little more expensive than what consumers typically buy in grocery stores because they are grown in big nurseries in Florida.

"Instead of being grown out in a field like corn, they are grown in containers and are gradually moved to shade so that when they come up here, it's not such a shock when they go into an office," she said.

A New Leaf, which turned 30 this year, also has a retail side. The company operates a plant and gift shop at its headquarters on Bishop Street, off Country Club Road near Gordon Manor Shopping Center.

The shop offers live, blooming and silk plants; a variety of containers for plants; and home accessories, including candlesticks, bowls and wall hangings. Katina Kroustalis, the shop's floral designer, does custom silk arrangements for customers.

The business started as a small plant shop on Fourth Street owned by Robin and Fred Heina. Assimos and a former business partner, Lynn Habegger, bought it in 1976. Sessions bought Habegger's interest in the company a year later, and there was another partner in the business for a while.

A New Leaf moved to larger space at College Village on Avalon Road in 1980 and to its present site, where it has 7,000 square feet, in 1991.

The company's first client for plant maintenance was Wachovia Bank & Trust. In 1978, A New Leaf won a bid to maintain plants in the new R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. world-headquarters building.

"That was really a watershed for us," Sessions said. "That was over 700 plants."

In the early days of the business, it was just three business partners handling all duties, including delivering and watering plants. "It was hard work," Assimos said.

Today, the company has 16 employees, all women except for one man, Mike Redmond, who does deliveries and installations. Many of the employees have been at A New Leaf for at least 10 years and some at least 25 years. "They enjoy what they do," Assimos said. "The main attraction to this job is flexibility. They can pretty much set their own hours because they are out on the accounts, taking care of things."

The company's Christmas business has been growing over the years, both at the shop, offering Christmas decor, and through commercial accounts, primarily providing decorations: poinsettias, wreaths, garlands, trees and centerpieces. That's when the company hires a lot of seasonal employees.

The business partners are true plant people, who work together as a family and are proud that their business has lasted so long.

"I enjoy it more and more," Sessions said. "I always thought that if my children were out of the house I would retire or be ready to kick back, but I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have this place to come to every day."

Assimos, who has a bachelor's degree in interior design from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, likes the retail side of the business. Sessions, who got a bachelor's degree in sociology and took a lot of horticulture classes at N.C. State University and previously worked in a garden shop, favors the commercial side.

Assimos said that employees bend over backward to please customers, and if there's something they don't carry, they'll try to order it.

The owners have had the opportunity to sell their business to a larger company but prefer remaining independent. "We can offer much better service and quicker response by being small, local and independent," Assimos said.

Last year was a challenging time for the business as it dealt with rising gasoline and freight costs.

The company is paying more in freight costs for the items it buys, including plants that come from Florida, where hurricanes in 2005 hurt many nurseries.

"It's seems like every time we get a shipment there's a new surcharge for fuel," Assimos said. "So we're paying a lot more for freight, and the plants have become more expensive and even harder to get because of the hurricanes last year."

The company is paying more for gasoline to drive its company vehicles and in mileage expenses for its maintenance technicians, who primarily use their own cars.

Assimos said that they have readjusted some routes to save on gasoline and have increased some fees, but, for the most part, they are absorbing the higher costs.

She also said that some companies are trimming their budgets and have cut out plants and plant maintenance.

To compensate, A New Leaf is focusing on its rental business for special occasions, including weddings and corporate events.

Assimos and Sessions want to increase their retail business. They have created a Web site to attract clients from around the country, are trying to get the word out about their discounts to their commercial clients' employees and are putting more focus on their educational programs for groups.