Plunging prices and climbing costs have put a 121-year-old Hawke's Bay nursery out of business.
Andersons Nursery, established on Napier Hill in 1889, will close before the end of the year.
Manager Jack Moates said a number of well established nurseries had been closing around the country.
The staff were "devastated" at the
news but it was not a surprise.
"It's been coming for some years," Mr Moates said. "It's a long slow death typical of others in the industry."
Upmarket garden centres and markets that used to be the mainstay of the business, such as indoor potted plants for rentals, had diminished in demand to the point that they could not sustain the business.
"Big box" stores bought plants at very low prices and sold them cheaply while the cost of production was continuing to rise so it was impossible for many nurseries to meet costs.
"Energy is the biggest factor for nurseries," he said.
"Most of our plants start in heated greenhouses and whichever method of heating you use costs go up annually."
Other expenses such as packaging, freight and labelling were also going up and were a big factor, especially for smaller companies.
The current circumstances were unsustainable and no nursery would survive much longer unless the bigger stores were willing to pay more for plants.
Scottish immigrant JN Anderson established the nursery and four generations of the Anderson family ran it until selling it in 1999.
