Ever wonder where those orange, gold and maroon mums at the grocery store come from? Van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc. in McAdoo.

“We ship to 90% of the supermarkets in the U.S.,” Alexander van Hoekelen, in sales and business development at van Hoekelen Greenhouses, said.

The company delivers more than 650,000 mums nationwide to supermarkets like Giant, Weis, Walmart, Wegmans, Giant Eagle, ShopRite in New York City, as well as local independent markets. For seasonal holiday favorites like poinsettias and zygo (Christmas) cactus, they also ship to CVS and Rite Aid.

Van Hoekelen Greenhouses is one of the largest producers of bulb plants like tulips, hyacinths, amaryllis and Easter lilies in the United States, as well as ivy topiaries and annuals like marigolds and petunias and vegetable plants.

In all, they ship 6,000 truckloads a year, which adds up to 8 million potted plants and 50 million stems of cut tulips, van Hoekelen said.

The company has 25 tractor-trailers, three straight trucks and 27 drivers.

“It’s very hard to get (truck drivers) these days,” van Hoekelen said. “We’ll take as many as we can get.”

The business started in 1988 by Lori van Hoekelen and is certified as a woman-owned business with the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council. She operates it alongside her husband Cok van Hoekelen, a horticulturist from Holland, three of their children, including Alexander, and her brother.

Her daughters Sharon Fazakas works in human resources and payroll, and Lori Bowser in accounts payable and purchasing.

“It was never put on us that we had to come back,” van Hoekelen said about working in the family business after college.

“I knew when I finished (college) that I wanted to see how I could expand the business.”

Van Hoekelen said the company’s core model is bulk orders to brick-and-mortar businesses. But he recognizes that e-commerce is a strong market to enter.

“We are expanding online. But not directly yet,” he said. Individual plant orders still need to be picked up at the garden center on Plant Road.

Van Hoekelen said he and his parents have different ideas for the business, but it works out.

“For me, I think collaboration is huge,” he said. “At the end of the day, when we collaborate that’s when the good ideas come out of the both of us.”

Currently, the company has 150 full-time employees in the offseason, including the truck drivers, and swells to 300 during the peak season (October through May).

Several employees have been with the company since the beginning.

“A lot of them remember me as a kid running around,” he said. “I had a huge family growing up here, so to speak.”

The company opened in McAdoo with one greenhouse next to the Kline Cogeneration Facility on Lofty Road, because it produced enough steam to support a greenhouse.

In 2001, a second greenhouse was built on Plant Road.

Now, they have 16 acres of greenhouse space and 5 acres of temperature-controlled warehouse, and today, they plans to construct a new 1-acre storage building next to the greenhouse on Lofty Road.

“It will be nice,” Alexander van Hoekelen said. “It’s always nice to build.”

The company runs three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he said.

They create their own peat moss-based soil mix specially designed for the plant going in it, and import bulbs from Holland.

When the bulbs arrive, they get dipped in a solution to prevent bacteria growth and then off to planting, which begins in September and continues through December.

“Pretty much, we’re imitating nature,” he said.

As orders come due, the potted plants are pulled from cold storage, warmed and allowed to grow. The cooler ranges in temperature from minus 10 degrees to 80 degrees.

The business also employs several horticulturists to monitor the plants, develop soil combinations, and research the best conditions for the plants to thrive.

“We keep the plants happy,” said Tim Benishek, a horticulturist at the greenhouse.

Van Hoekelen said his family flies back to Holland several times a year. His father’s family is one of many companies that produce bulbs.

“It’s mostly for business, but we stay with family. It’s the best of both worlds,” van Hoekelen said. “We get back there, but also get to see family.”

BUSINESS: Lori van Hoekelen, owner, van Hoekelen Greenhouses Inc.

BEGINNINGS: Family business

OPENING DAY: Started in 1988.

CHALLENGES: Alexander van Hoekelen: Price competition and labor.

ADVICE FOR BUDDING ENTREPRENEURS: Alexander van Hoekelen: No idea is too far-fetched or crazy. If you think you can do something, put your mind to it and you can. Collaborate. Find someone who can help. And listen to the people who can give you advice.

LOCATIONS: Administrative offices, 220 S. Hancock St., McAdoo; Lofty Greenhouse and Garden Center, 64 and 51 Lofty Road, McAdoo; Plant Road Greenhouse, 86 Plant Road, McAdoo.

WEBSITE: www.vanhoekelen.com

FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/vhgreenhouses

CONTACT: 800-979-2022 or 570-436-6063