The only child, Stéphane Grenon, represents the third generation to helm the family horticultural business, established in Laterrière (Chicoutimi) since 1948. Following his grandfather François-Xavier and his father Marc, it’s now his turn to wear the many hats required to be an entrepreneur in the fields of landscaping, maintenance, and retail.

Supported by his partner Marie-Pier, who primarily ensures the smooth operation of the Aménagement Grenon garden center, Stéphane can also rely on a dedicated team of 45 people, more than half of whom are part of the landscaping department.

« My oldest employee has been here for at least 35 years,” he says with pride. “After that, I have many field staff who have been with us for 20 or 25 years. It pleases me that people stay for a long time. »

Despite having a core of long-standing employees, the labor shortage affecting all sectors in Quebec still compels the business owner to invest significant efforts in recruitment and improving working conditions within his company, particularly through acquiring increasingly advanced equipment. 2023 was the first year that foreign workers came to assist the Aménagement Grenon team.

To meet these challenges, mutual support among companies is also very important. “We’re not in competition… we even refer clients to each other!” he says, citing the support from Rébéca Rouleau, owner of Serres Dame Nature, a Groupex member business that regularly collaborates with his company.

Rapid transformation

From the age of 12, Stéphane spent his summers in the office running small errands for his father. Around the age of 15, he began to truly frequent the job sites to get acquainted with manual outdoor work. Then he pursued a college education in industrial electronics, all while continuing to be employed at Aménagement Grenon.

The least that can be said is that the company has changed significantly since Stéphane took over the leadership – and even more so since the very first greenhouse made by François-Xavier Grenon! One of the departments that Stéphane sought to expand quickly was retail sales, which now accounts for 40% of his revenue:

I’ve invested a lot in the garden center and since then, we’ve practically tripled… both in terms of revenue and size. At that time, it was important for us to be part of a group like Passion Jardins because we were still very small compared to the big chains. We wanted to standardize the image, make it more professional.”
 

Stéphane is proud of the revaluation approach that sets his company apart, and he wishes to continue promoting it: “Unlike companies that want to sell only new items, we encourage our clients to repurpose existing elements like shrubs, paving stones… It reduces costs for them and prevents waste.”