Stan's History

Stan's Garden Center began back in 1954 by Stan and Anna Marie Skarzenski. The business began as 'Stan's Mum' where the only thing they supplied were mums. Mum cuttings were started and planted in a field, then sold in August and September.

In 1961, the business grew to become 'Stan's Floral & Garden Shop'. They became a floral shop and spring garden center, supplying all the annual spring flowers and garden vegetables to local gardeners. They also carried Holiday potted flowers, such as tulips, hyacinths, and poinsettias.

In 1970, they discontinued the floral line of the garden business and became 'Stan's Garden Center', focusing mainly on annual spring flowers and garden vegetables.

On February 15, 1981, the business changed forever with the passing of Stan Skarzenski. In March of 1981, Jim Skarzenski, Stan and Anna Maries' middle child, left his job at GE to become the full-time garden center proprietor. Meanwhile, Stan's was outgrowing its confined location on Saltsman and Cumberland Rd in Harborcreek.

In 1987, the garden center moved to its current location on Rte 20 in Harborcreek (about 1 1/2 miles from its original location) and has been expanding at regular intervals to fill the 31-acre lot ever since.

In 2003, Stan's decided to expand to the west side of Erie with the opening of our 2nd location on West Lake Road. To this day we are celebrating over 60 years of successfully running a retail garden center in Erie, PA.

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