Bloomaker Breaks Ground on 22,000 Square Foot Warehouse Expansion
On Friday, September 4, we kicked off our largest amaryllis season in company history by breaking ground on a 22,000 square foot warehouse expansion. This new facility will enable our ability to ship nearly 1.5 million amaryllis bulbs from our Waynesboro headquarters.
Last year, our company’s owner, Joep Paternostre, decided to produce our amaryllis bulbs in-house for quality-control purposes. This holiday season, we will be packaging and shipping amaryllis bulbs from our very own headquarters to stores across the country, including Costco, Trader Joe’s, Kroger, Harris Teeter, Martin’s, and Whole Foods. This decision to produce our amaryllis bulbs at our headquarters, along with managing the shipment of 14 million tulip bulbs and 500,000 hyacinth bulbs annually from our Waynesboro location, required an expansion of our facility. Resultantly, a 22,000 sq.-ft. warehouse will be developed this year, with an additional 40,000 sq.-ft. facility following shortly.
Joep Paternostre, Bloomaker’s owner
Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA-06)
During the groundbreaking on Friday, Paternostre, along with local and state officials and community leaders, held a press conference at the site to discuss plans for the expansion and what it means for our local area. The speakers included: Joep Paternostre, Owner, Bloomaker, Congressman Ben Cline (R-VA-06), Steve Morelli, South River representative on the Augusta County Board of Supervisors, and Reo Hatfield, a local businessman, and community leader.
“The decision to bring the production of the amaryllis in-house was necessary for us to be able to offer the most beautiful and highest quality blooms to consumers,” said Paul Gabb, General Manager. “However, we also knew this decision would mean we’ve reached our maximum capacity in our Waynesboro facility. Expansion is needed to continue to grow at our current rates.”
Previously, we relied on third-party suppliers for the sourcing, planting, and harvesting of our bulbs. We now source the bulbs from our farm in Peru, where 50% of the world’s amaryllis crops are grown. We also started a partnership with Holland-based Kebol BV, and we work together to produce beautiful amaryllis crops with a farm in Northern Peru and partnering farms in Brazil. Currently, the amaryllis bulbs are shipped from Peru and Brazil to Waynesboro, where they are planted, harvested, packaged, and shipped to traditional and dot com retailers. This method allows us to control the size, number of stems, and number of flowers of our amaryllis. By harvesting the bulbs in our greenhouses in Waynesboro, we will also manage the timing of availability. The goal is to make this traditional winter flower available all year long!
We employ 100+ part-time seasonal workers to help with the planting, harvesting, packaging, and shipping of its blooms. Our high season begins in August with amaryllis and lasts through the spring with its tulips. The bulbs are sold in stores across the country and online at Costco.com, Walmart.com, Amazon.com, on QVC, and on Bloomaker.com. Our goal is to increase the production of its amaryllis bulbs by 50% in five years. You can learn more about career opportunities with Bloomaker here.
Click here to see the full press release from the event.
