25-05-2025
K&B Plants blooming in Temperance for more than four decades
TEMPERANCE — Every year, from April 25 to Father's Day, the doors are open and flowers bloom at K&B Plants, and soon it'll have a new owner.
Started in 1984 by Karen and Bill Albring, whose first initials contributed to the name, the business offers both home-grown flowers and vegetables.
Bill was originally a farmer, following in his father's footsteps, growing tomatoes for canneries. However, when the canneries he sold to shut down, they had no one to grow for, according to Kristen Brown, the couple's daughter.
"Then, my mom, Karen, had to convince my dad, 'Let's give the flowers a try,'" she explained. "And so, that's how we ended up in the flower retail business."
Brown will take control of the business by 2026. Bill and Karen aren't interested in selling the business, as they've poured too much of themselves into it to just give it to someone else.
"Agriculture is so much more than a job, it's a way of life," Brown explained.
The couple are looking to reduce time spent on the business because of their age, but they still plan to remain involved with it.
The family starts seasonal preparation at the end of February, with pre-planting and ordering flowers for special orders from their customers. The flower types and color combinations for baskets are an exercise in chance, according to Brown, since they can't 100% accurately predict what customers will want.
"I think people are busy, they have busy, active schedules, and they don't necessarily have the time to plan or plant their own pots," Brown explained.
They also have a customer-base of avid vegetable gardeners, to the point where they sold out of veggies in 2020 and 2021.
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"Whatever's going on with the economy, it's really moving the vegetables," said Karen.
"Because of the price of the grocers," Bill guessed. "At the grocery store they spend a lot of money and they're trying to grow their own."
Each member of the family has their own favorite part of the business they attend to. Karen enjoys the flexibility of the work and is concerned with growing and especially watering the plants. Bill, since he grew up growing vegetables, continues to attend to the ones K&B Plants grows now. Brown loves handling the people aspect, hearing about her customers' successes and failures with different plants.
"Really, our goal is to sell quality plants that are going to do well all summer that a customer wants to come back and tell me how well they did," she said.
When asked about what community niche their business filled, the family agreed that it was their hanging basket combos, customizable baskets for special orders, and the Al's Flower Pouches.
They also said they made it a point not to raise prices over the past year. They knew people would struggle so they, as Bill put it, "held the line."
"We'll take a little less, so that people are a little more comfortable," Karen said.
Brown's three children, Samantha, 18, Allison, 16, and Matthew, 13, also pitch in, working at the business.
"This truly is a family business," Brown said.
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When asked about the future of the business, Brown replied that she's taking things "one year at a time." She wants to be able to run the business and still do her full time job and be involved with her kids' lives, so she said she may bring in more employees.
Their retail space is located at 623 East Samaria Road, Temperance, and is open Monday-Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
— You can reach Connor Veenstra at cveenstra@
This article originally appeared on The Monroe News: Temperance family business offers hanging flowers for the summer KB
