# McBean's Orchids to close in England



## Linus_Cello (Oct 29, 2014)

http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-sussex-29795676

Award-winning orchid business to shut
28 October 2014 Last updated at 15:12 GMT
An award-winning orchid business is to close as its retiring owners have been unable to find a buyer to take it over.
McBean's Orchids has been in business in Cooksbridge, near Lewes, for 135 years.
In that time staff have grown more than three thousand plants and won 85 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show.


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## Migrant13 (Oct 29, 2014)

Sorry to hear that.


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## NYEric (Oct 29, 2014)

Ouch!


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## gonewild (Oct 29, 2014)

Sad.... we maybe ST forum should go together and buy it. We could send NY Eric there to manage it.


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## SlipperFan (Oct 29, 2014)

gonewild said:


> Sad.... we maybe ST forum should go together and buy it. We could send NY Eric there to manage it.



Great idea. Just think of the deals he would give us! :evil:


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## John M (Oct 30, 2014)

Linus_Cello said:


> McBean's Orchids has been in business in Cooksbridge, near Lewes, for 135 years.
> In that time staff have grown more than three thousand plants and won 85 gold medals at the Chelsea Flower Show.



I thought they went bust about 15 to 20 years ago. It's surprising news to me that they're still in business. Also, what's up with the quote: "three thousand plants"? I think in 135 years, they've grown a LOT more than that.


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## gonewild (Oct 30, 2014)

John M said:


> Also, what's up with the quote: "three thousand plants"? I think in 135 years, they've grown a LOT more than that.



I assumed they must have registered 3000 hybrids?


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## phraggy (Oct 30, 2014)

Never bought from Mcbeans because their website only advertised either one or two slippers. A full list of all their plants was forwarded to certain people and a list was published by North of England Orchid Society. Couldn't believe the amount of Paphs and Phrags they had----where did they come from --- why were they never on their website? I'm sure had they advertised properly
their demise might have been avoided !!!
Not understandable.

Ed


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## eteson (Oct 30, 2014)

So sad.
I like the idea of ST buying it and Eric as manager. Eric, if you need a breeder and lab manager I can send my CV to you. I could cirtainly consider the idea of coming back to the old Europe! :rollhappy:


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## phraggy (Oct 30, 2014)

I'm sure Eric would do a fabulous job of it.!!

Ed


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## gonewild (Oct 30, 2014)

eteson said:


> So sad.
> I like the idea of ST buying it and Eric as manager. Eric, if you need a breeder and lab manager I can send my CV to you. I could cirtainly consider the idea of coming back to the old Europe! :rollhappy:



I'm thinking we can move the plants to Columbia, that will be easier for you.
Besides most of the original plants were plundered from South America anyway, so we can repatriate them.
I suspect Eric won't mind being transferred to CO.


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## cnycharles (Oct 30, 2014)

Actually I need a job at the moment... Don't know how many bridges are in Columbia 


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## Linus_Cello (Oct 30, 2014)

Could ST buy it as a Co-Op? Profits would be in plants to ST members =)


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## John M (Oct 30, 2014)

gonewild said:


> I assumed they must have registered 3000 hybrids?


 That makes a LOT more sense. Stupid media can't report anything correctly!


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## cnycharles (Oct 30, 2014)

Maybe at any one particular time, they had 3000 plants in the greenhouse(s) (though seems like they probably had more)


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## Lmpgs (Oct 31, 2014)

I can propose myself as South-East European representative!!


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## lepetitmartien (Oct 31, 2014)

phraggy said:


> Never bought from Mcbeans because their website only advertised either one or two slippers. A full list of all their plants was forwarded to certain people and a list was published by North of England Orchid Society. Couldn't believe the amount of Paphs and Phrags they had----where did they come from --- why were they never on their website? I'm sure had they advertised properly
> their demise might have been avoided !!!
> Not understandable.
> 
> Ed


A lot of "traditional" orchid producers/reseller have really not jumped into 21rst century.It looks as if they don't think they need the internet sales. But if people don't know what they sell, why would they drive to see plants they can't know are available. It may have worked in the 80-90s, but now no more.

We lost in France the glasshouses of Marcel Lecoufle (hey he's 102 now!) after the death of Geneviève…  Other orchids shops are set to close in the coming months/years as the owners are to retire and there's no one to carry on afterwards.

I can understand some (few) don't need the extra advertisement but I'm sure it's not the case of all.


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## Linus_Cello (Nov 3, 2014)

Well, with cheaper labor (and cheaper facilities cost) in southeast asia, I'm guessing more of the general orchid houses in Europe and US will close-up, or will have to specialize in species that aren't mericloned.


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## NYEric (Nov 3, 2014)

The main problem with orchid vendors is failure to balance how they market to(exploit) 3 classes of orchid purchasers. The first would be the type that would buy one for the holiday or as they pass thru the checkout at the large home/garden store, the opportunistic sale. price a cute Phal or Paph hybrid for $15 - $25 and you have your sale X 2-3 times per year. The second sale group is the type that would go to a GH or Orchid Show. Give them a mix of interesting species and hybrids and expect them to spend $100 a few times a year. The third type is rare orchid enthusiast (such as people here) who can spend $200-300/month on selected plants. That, getting their product lists to the right connections, etc., can keep a vendor in the black.


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## Linus_Cello (Nov 3, 2014)

For the 2nd/3rd group, what effect does ST and orchid societies (where members can buy from each other, etc) have on vendors? With my freshwater tropical fish club, there are grumblings from independent live fish stores (not the Petcos/Petsmart) that these fish clubs are direct competitors. Another regrettable trend is that it seems that orchid hobbyists are declining. With smaller houses and yards, there's less space for growing orchids (except for the "disposable live flower arrangement" of an orchid like phals).


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## NYEric (Nov 3, 2014)

The members of group 2 obtain a number of plants from non-vendors. Do you think that stops them from buying from vendors?
The loss of hobbyist could be attributed to less shows. If the GNYOS show was still being held I would bet the number in the NYC area would be rising.


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## SlipperFan (Nov 3, 2014)

One of the orchid societies near us have organized a buying club, of sorts. They buy directly from wholesalers. And yes, it has affected the orchid vendors in the area that go to their show.


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## eteson (Nov 3, 2014)

The same "problem" here. Some orchid societies buy from wholesalers and have destroyed the Phal. market for the small productors. Fortunatelly only the Phal market...


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