Capital Nursery Closing Historic Freeport Location
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - The tough economy is being blamed for a popular south Sacramento nursery closing its doors.
Capital Nursery's flagship store is closing its doors.
"It's a 76-year-old company. They have been in this location for 66 years, and what you see around here has been here since then," said General Manager Carr McClendon.
It has been a fixture on Freeport Boulevard since 1931.
"It's the changing of an era," said McClendon.
But the store was unable to hold down its roots in this troubled economy.
"If you have followed the other nurseries here in town, you would see 30 or 35 have gone out of business in the Sacramento area," said McClendon.
Capital Nursery is shifting its focus to its two other locations in Elk Grove and Citrus Heights, but customers attached to the memories are still in disbelief.
"When they stop crying, they say they wish we weren't going, and we wish we weren't going too," said McClendon.
Part of the farewell is a massive sale, getting rid of everything they can.
When they said everything must go, they literally meant everything must go, digging plants out of the ground.
"I've been coming here since '92 or '93, when I moved into the neighborhood. So, it's been a long time," customer Alan Shomers said.
It's a sad day, as customers say goodbye to a piece of Sacramento's history.
"My first garden I ever made or put together was here, from these guys, and they showed me how to do it," said Shomers.
Chuck Armstrong, the now-retired president of the company, was running around the nursery since 1936, when he was 4 years old.
Sunday, he was reminiscing with old customers and sharing memories from the good old days.
"You can't go to anyone's house around here who doesn't have plants from Capital Nursery," said Armstrong.
The Armstrong family says they're excited for what the future brings at its two other locations, but leaving Freeport Boulevard behind isn't easy.
"I've been reviewing pictures and video and it just breaks your heart," said McClendon.
Capital Nursery does still have two locations, one in Elk Grove and one in Citrus Heights.
People close to the business say Raley's has purchased the property on Freeport Boulevard with plans to build a store there.
