Ernst Home & Nursery
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Ernst Home Centers, Inc. | |
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| Type | Home improvement retailer |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1893 |
| Headquarters | Seattle, Washington |
| Industry | Retail |
| Products | Lumber, tools, hardware, garden supplies & plants |
| Website | None |
Ernst Home & Nursery is a defunct home improvement warehouse chain that filed for bankruptcy in the mid-1990s. Founded in Seattle, Washington in 1893 by Fred and Charles Ernst, many of their stores were located in strip malls, often with a chain in corporate parent company Pay 'n Save. At the company's height it operated 95 stores in 12 states.
By 1996, competition from big box retailers such as Home Depot and Lowe's led to financial problems for the Ernst chain. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 14, 1996[1][2], and the company closed operations in 1997. At the time of the bankruptcy, Ernst had 86 stores located in Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, California, and Wyoming.
[edit] Malmo Nursery
Charles Malmo, an immigrant from Norway, founded a seed store on Second Avenue in Seattle in 1893.
Malmo was credited with being first in the Northwest to propagate and grow his own nursery stock rather than import ornamental shrubs from Japan, Holland and England. In 1930, he opened the first "garden department store" on the Pacific Coast, selling all that was needed for the "most elaborate garden, from seeds to large trees," as he humbly asserted during the opening festivities.
His son Clark bought 30 acres to cultivate at the present site of University Village shopping mall. Many of the gorgeous mature yards surrounding old Laurelhurst homes in Seattle today were the work of the Malmos. In 1962, the Malmos sold their business to Ernst Hardware and Pay 'n Save stores and became a wholly owned subsidiary. Malmo Nursery was shut down during Ernst's bankruptcy.
