April 19. UPDATED. Pike Nursery will open April 26 on the rapidly developing stretch of Statesville Road/Highway 21 in Cornelius just north of Bailey Road. This is Pike’s third  location in the Charlotte area and its 18th in the Southeast. Local demographics easily support the business, which is just north of two big-box retailers with sizable garden departments, company officials said.

“Our expansion research indicated that Cornelius and the Lake Norman area had good demographics and a strong customer base which would serve us well,” said Pike VP Mike Chapman. “We were then able to locate available vacant property for our new store in a growing retail corridor on Statesville Road, so it all came together.”

Opening day festivities on April 26 include a Ribbon Cutting at 10 am and Garden Party at 4 pm. The official Grand Opening is Saturday April 28, with food from the grill.

MIKE KUNCE

The new Pike Nursery is located at 18324 Statesville Road (Hwy. 21), just south of the new Arby’s.

Chapman says Home Depot and Lowe’s don’t worry them. “We have similar situations in several of our Atlanta locations but we’ve done very well offering a higher end garden center and patio furniture than the big box retailers,” he says.

Pike Nurseries is a full-service garden company that offers trees, shrubs, perennials, vegetables and more as well as a collection of lifestyle products such as pottery, fountains, patio furniture and birding supplies. The garden center also provides landscape design, installation and planting services to assist homeowners.

“We’ve continued to see increased interest in our in-house landscaping department , as well as our selection of annuals, perennials, shrubs and other garden essentials,” said Mike Kunce, Pike Nurseries CEO. “We’re looking forward to helping Lake Norman residents play in the dirt!”

He says Pike differentiates itself from the big boxes in ways that consumers will appreciate

• A lifetime guarantee on all trees and shrubs,
• Full-service landscaping division does everything from custom designs and full installations to simple plantings and laying sod.
• The plant selection at Pike Nurseries is deeper and broader than big box stores.

The company, which is employee-owned and operated, also has a growing division based in Georgia, so many plants are grown nearby.