Community connection

Pete Bryant didn’t just buy any old building on a plot of land to house the headquarters for his business, Southern Exposure Landscape Management. The acre-and-a-half property in Summerfield, N.C., is located at a four-way intersection with a stoplight. And the structure is on the National Historic Registry.

“Our building is a landmark in the community and it has been for generations,” says Bryant of the 200-year-old building. Southern Exposure moved into the space five years ago and, since, has transformed the property into a landscape haven with complete outdoor displays.

This community connection – the building, the location, Bryant’s roots – is central in the way that Southern Exposure presents itself as a firm. Bryant is always looking for ways to draw people in and to give back, he says.
So several years ago, the tenant who was renting the first floor of the building from Bryant suggested organizing a Saturday farmer’s market on the property. “It was a way for her to bring people in the door for business, and then people could walk through our displays,” Bryant says of the win-win.

The Farmer’s Market grew to about a dozen vendors carrying everything from produce to meats to baked goods and preserves. “It was a huge pull,” Bryant says of the crowd. “Our parking lot was full every Saturday.” He can’t directly relate the traffic to sales at his firm, but that wasn’t the initial purpose, after all.

Now, Bryant’s firm has taken over the entire building, but he intends on bringing back the farmer’s market as a way to invite people in and to contribute to the community’s spirit.