MOLINE, Ill. - Deere & Company today announced that McGinnis Farms, Inc., its recently acquired wholly owned subsidiary headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, is changing its name to John Deere Landscapes. The new company logo features the instantly recognizable Deere & Company leaping deer.
John Deere Landscapes competes in the $100 billion market called the "green industry," and broadens John Deere's traditional role of lawn and turf care equipment sales to one that is more comprehensive.
"This name change allows us to create a larger vision of what John Deere Landscapes will become," said John Jenkins, president of the Worldwide Commercial and Consumer Equipment Division. "Instead of serving just regional markets, John Deere Landscapes aspires to become a national supplier of products and services."
John Deere Landscapes President Dave Werning explained that the company offers a complete range of solutions for landscaping and irrigation professionals. The new name reflects this business model, he added.
"The new name provides a common platform for the company's continued growth and geographic expansion," Werning said. "With everyone united under one name and one vision, we will more quickly achieve our business goals."
McGinnis Farms, Inc. has operated branches under four different trade names: McGinnis Farms, Jenco Wholesale Nursery, Pipe 'n Heads, and Plantland. Today's announcement unifies all operations under a single trade name.
"The old structure of four trade names served us well as a regional company," said Sandy Zusmann, vice president of marketing for John Deere Landscapes. "However, now we have larger aspirations and need to be identified appropriately. John Deere Landscapes will be a unifying brand for our already strong offerings of products and services."
John Deere Landscapes, founded in 1987 by Stan Walker as McGinnis Farms, Inc., provides a full service, "one-stop shop" concept to the horticultural industry, distributing landscape-related products such as ornamental nursery stock, landscaping supplies, irrigation products, and landscape lighting. John Deere Landscapes operates 50 branches in 12 states across the Southeast and South Central United States. The company had sales of $150 million in 2000.
One of the world's oldest and most respected enterprises, Deere & Company (www.JohnDeere.com) creates smart and innovative solutions worldwide, in the form of advanced machines, services and concepts, for customers on the farmsite, worksite and homesite.