Chad Roper and Emily Dye stand in front of the greenhouse of Brookfield Supply. The landscaping supply yard opened recently at 1336 Route 7, Brookfield.
Chad Roper thought he knew everybody in Brookfield.
He learned differently when he and his fiance, Emily Dye, opened Brookfield Supply, a landscape supply and home and garden store at 1336 Route 7 in May.
“A lot of new faces,” Roper said happily.
The owner of Strugglen Farms, a trucking and light excavating company and corn and soybean farm, said he had looked for about three years for a suitable location on Route 7.
“Always wanted to do a supply yard like this,” Roper said. “Really, what we wanted to do was try to do something for the community and for Brookfield, try to do everything in town, keep everything local. There’s nothing like this around, at least, not in town.”
Brookfield Supply sells brown bark and black dyed mulch, aggregates, sand, sifted topsoil, landscape stone, driveway stone, flower flats, vegetable flats, hanging baskets, potting soil, straw, perennials, shrubs and bushes.
“If you don’t see it here, we can get it,” Roper said.
The most popular items so far have been hanging baskets of petunias, pansies and ferns, and mulch.
“Everybody comes in, they’re so happy that we’re here,” he said. “It’s close and convenient. My phone’s been ringing all day, every day.”
Landscape companies doing jobs in town have contacted him about supplies, he said.
As the seasons change, Roper hopes to have relevant items, such as fresh produce in the summer, corn stalks and pumpkins in the fall and Christmas trees and wreaths at the holidays.
He’s floating a lot of ideas about more items he can add to his product line, and welcomes suggestions, noting he’s looking into getting mushroom compost based on customer requests.
“It’s been nothing but happiness,” he said of the initial response. “Everybody’s saying, ‘thank you.’”
Roper said he hopes Brookfield Supply does more than just boost his bottom line.
“I’ve thought, well, maybe if we brought it to the town then maybe more people in town would have a little more flowers, mulch,” he said. “Maybe it will clean the whole town up a little bit and give it a little more eye appeal for other things that come in and other businesses. The nicer things are the more opportunities it opens up, lots of different avenues.”
Brookfield Supply’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. Call Brookfield Supply at 724-854-5385.
