Established in 1959, Lawyer Nursery represents and serves the nursery industry through sales, marketing and advertising. Fostered on a family farm, it is one of the few members of its industry who are located solely in the United States. The company sells everything from nursery stock to trees for landscaping, as well as many related services. Many of its products are certified to NSF/ANSI and APA standards. The company has been able to successfully penetrate the North American nursery market due to its knowledge of the American nursery industry and of the wide range of products it sells.
The majority of its product lines are imported from China, India, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Thailand and the United Kingdom. The majority of its trees are hardy species resistant to a variety of pests and disorders and have been developed through an extensive process of genetic improvement, selecting specific lines, selective breeding and crossbreeding. Tree sales represent a sizable portion of the company’s revenue and account for over ninety percent of its profits. In addition to selling and wholesale purchasing of trees, the company markets and provides advice on tree care, pests and diseases, pruning, line and root work, harvesting, tree restoration and disposal of old, unwanted or unused plant material, and educates customers on tree care. Additionally, lawyer nursery trees are used for landscape construction, interior design, motion picture editing, audio production, television and film sound, sign making, airplane seating and decorative wall graphics.
For our review of Lawyer International, we send one representative to the Company’s showroom in Des Plaines, IL. During the visit, we find that the showroom is clean, orderly with several varieties of trees in different stages of growth. All of the trees appear healthy and thrive under our inspection. One tree stands alone in the center of the room, dominating the front of the exhibit and dominating the entire room with its presence, while several other trees are busier than others.
We next visit the Lawyer International’s Online Tree Sales website and are impressed by the quality of photos available. The website displays pictures of each tree, the plant source and information about each tree. In reviewing the photos of Lawyer’s trees, we note that all of the trees are substantially younger than the ones displayed at the showroom. Because of the increased costs involved with shipping, it appears that Lawyer has reduced the number of trees available to the public from twelve to seven. In reviewing the terms and conditions of Lawyer’s online tree sale, we notice that customers are provided with an Acceptable Tax ID, indicating that the customer is responsible for tax reporting.
After our visit, and after reading through the Lawyer International’s online Catalog, we return to the showroom and attempt to purchase a tree. We note that the tree sales representatives are less than enthusiastic about our request for information regarding tree seedling growth plans. However, we are provided with a telephone number, which is forwarded to a voicemail box. Upon listening to the message, we are invited to call the number and speak with someone. During our inquiry, we learn that the reason for our call at the showroom was due to the fact that we were not aware that we could obtain a lawyer nursery in the same manner as we can obtain seeds from a Lawyer’s Nursery or from any of the many companies that sell wholesale Lawyer’s Lawyer tree seedling plants.
We note that each of the two sites provided us with an address, which is in the city of Toronto. Therefore, it appears that the only way to obtain a lawyer nursery in Toronto is by traveling to the city and using the internet. Although the Lawyer International’s website does not specifically state how long it takes to receive a tree or what charges apply to purchasing trees from their nursery, we believe that the prices listed in the Lawyer International’s website and on their phone number are reasonable. We also note that the Lawyer International website does not offer any discounts. This could be a problem for customers, as prices are usually very high for Lawyer’s Nursery seedling trees.
