Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts celebrates 30 years!
Dan Belman and Randy Korando opened Boxwoods Gardens & Gifts in Buckhead in 1995 to meet customers in the middle. “The choices back then were to go to very high-end stores or low-end stores. There was nothing in the middle with a good look but at a good price where you weren’t just paying for a designer name,” Belman says. The upscale yet affordably priced store was based on Korando’s skills as a landscape designer and the pair’s passion for antiques and collectibles. They found a storefront on East Andrews Drive where Boxwoods, now greatly expanded, stands today and has for 30 years. Here, Belman reflects on the business.
What did you offer at Boxwoods in 1995?
We began with gifts, antiques and planted compositions. We take containers like a terrine or silver bowl, and we plant them with live plants. It was something nobody else was doing in the market. We’re also very well-known for our orchids that are grown locally and have been by the same company since we opened. That’s a huge part of our business. We also have always had specialty plantings, such as around front doors and pools, for residential and commercial clients. We would also go to Europe three to four times a year and bring back containers of antiques. I always thought of it as a three-legged stool. We had stability. Some of the year, the plant department would go crazy, and at others, the gifts.
What did you expand to include?
I joke that we’re like Sears, but we don’t sell batteries and tires. We have everything. A women’s department, furnishings, pillows, mirrors, lamps, decorative accessories and some food items. We also do a lot of permanent botanicals. One whole floor of Boxwoods Home is permanent botanicals. They look and feel real. We’ve done commercial jobs, such as for The Garden Room at the St. Regis Atlanta. We did that interior, from the floor to the ceiling and across it.
How have tastes changed over the years?
Antiques used to be more popular. Atlanta has become transitional and a more contemporary city. People don’t want antique light fixtures. Now, it’s more transitional or contemporary lighting. We used to do three to four containers a year from Europe. We’ve cut way back. We carry more new furnishings than we used to, with some vintage items. We change with the times.
What is Boxwoods’ legacy?
We’ve become kind of an institution, and we’re thankful and very proud of it. We’re not planning to leave the business or retire. We love contributing to social events like health care and animal causes. We’ve tried to be very good stewards and contribute to making Atlanta the great city that it is.
BOXWOODS GARDEN & GIFTS
404.233.3400
boxwoodsonline.com
@boxwoodsatlanta
