After four years, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. is closing down its Smith & Hawken retailing unit, including SmithandHawken.com.
The e-commerce site was closed down with this morning. Its catalog and call center operation also have ceased processing orders, the company says. A temporary web page on SmithandHawken.com thanked shoppers for 30 years of business and advised customers that they could still shop—at least temporarily—at the chain’s 56 stores in 22 states. Scotts is closing down Smith & Hawken, No. 299 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide, after failing to find a buyer, the company says.
Scotts will take an after-tax charge of $25 million to close down all Smith & Hawken operations by December and has hired an unnamed liquidation company to assist in the process. “We would have preferred to sell the Smith & Hawken business in order to protect jobs and keep the retail franchise intact,” says Scotts CEO Jim Hagedorn. “After discussions with several potential investors over the past 12 months, it became obvious that shutting down the business was the best option available.”
Scotts doesn’t break out e-commerce sales for SmithandHawken.com, which carried an inventory of patio furniture, garden supplies and plants. But for the fiscal 2009 second quarter ended March 28, total sales for Smith & Hawken had declined 22.2% to $19.3 million compared to $24.8 million in the prior year. Overall sales for Scotts for the same period were essentially flat at $960.1 million.
Scotts acquired Smith & Hawken in 2005 in an attempt to diversify its product line of lawn and garden care products. But now Scotts is closing down Smith & Hawken to concentrate on its core business. “By eliminating the losses from Smith & Hawken, we can invest even further in driving profitable growth,” says Hagedorn.
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