Peter Budgen opened a Nutri-Lawn franchise in Dartmouth (101 Thornhill Drive, 468-8101) 22 years ago and it’s been growing strong ever since. But now he’s turning his attention to the south, looking into expanding his franchise in the Boston area.
After travelling down to Boston this spring to scope out the market, Budgen says it looks fairly attractive. “I just think our brand is something that might be a good fit for that New England market,” he says.
While Nutri-Lawn, a Canadian-based company that aims to grow green lawns while limiting chemical usage, already has franchises in the States, it hasn’t tapped into the Eastern seaboard. With an operation in Seattle and smaller start-up operations in Colorado and Utah, Budgen says it’s certainly something he’s investigating.
He says the mindset of the American consumer has changed over the past 10 years when it comes to ecology and the environment. “I think the New England market is more similar to what ours was 10 or 15 years ago and concerned with the environment and such.”
This article appears in Jun 7-13, 2012.