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Inid h Nohw ooming gadnand hom dinaion ai.
Ph
otos
by
AliHarvey
MolbaksGarden + HoMe
The year was 1950. Exchange student Egon Molbak had recently returned home to Denmark from the United States to
marry his Danish sweetheart, Laina, and take her on a romantic honeymoon in the states. Neither of them could have
guessed that it would be years before they would return home to their native Denmark.
Nearly 60 years into their extended honeymoon, the couple has formed a deep-rooted community in their home-
town of Woodinville, Wash.
Out on their own and armed with their passion for gardening and the dream of starting their own company the
Molbaks started a production and wholesale greenhouse in 1956 under their name. Business was thriving, and Egons
extraordinary green thumb attracted neighbors who tried persuading him to sell some of his plants to add to their
personal gardens. It wasnt until 1967 that Laina was finally able to persuade her husband to open the greenhouse to
by KrIsty Alpert
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retail customers; when he did, the business took off.
With the increased success of the retai l additions, the family, which
by then included four children, decided to keep the store true to itsroots: they used the interconnected weave of repurposed greenhouses
as their cleverly authentic retail front and moved their production farm
10 minutes down the road to a 40-acre facility. Their children loved
running around the 150,000-square-foot store, but it was their son,
Jens, to whom the couple would eventually pass on the torch (or rake,
as the case may be).
When I was a child I was relatively involved in the store until age
11 or 12, says Jens Molbak, current owner of Molbaks Garden + Home.
Mom and dad really encouraged us to get out and work other places. Soafter I turned 16 I didnt work there for a while.
Molbak enjoyed his fair share of adventures on his quest for
employment, working everywhere from a winery to a bank. After busi-
ness school, he used the same
entrepreneurial spirit he learned
from his parents and started his
own company called Coinstar,
which he took public and r an for
12 years.
It was a lot of fun taking my
idea and watching it grow quite
rapidly, Molbak recalls. But I was really looking for a lifestyle change
and I decided Id try to localize. Since the business was in a little bit of
trouble in 2001, I decided to step back in and I bought it right around thetime I turned 40. Ive been running the store for about nine years now.
Aside from keeping the business running smoothly, maintaining
the family values of the store have been of the utmost importance to
Molbak, who still welcomes his fathers feedback when he makes his
weekly appearances at the store to check in on things. One of the things
thats been really enjoyable from a family standpoint has been getting to
know my parents in a way I wouldnt have gotten to know them before,
admits Molbak. There are some things I might do somewhat differ-
ently, but the basics and the foundation have been here for a long time.If anything, Im more surprised how similar things are rather than how
different things are.
Whats fun for me is that Im 48 now, so I get to think about and
experience some of the things he thought about when he was in his 40s.
So its interesting for me to understand his life differently than I would
have if I had not been doing this.
deFiNiNg ANd deSigNiNg The experieNce
The store saw great success once Jens took over as owner, but it wouldnt
have happened without a little innovative thinking.
When I first took over I didnt have a lot of personal background and
Molbak's Garden + Home in
Woodinville, Wash., grew from the
gardening passion of Egon and
Laina Molbak. The business they
started in 1956 has grown from
a wholesale greenhouse into a
popular retail store.
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knowledge of gardening, admits Molbak. I took out a big ad in the
newspaper and I published my e-mail address and told people I was
the new owner of Molbaks. I invited them to e-mail me their t houghts
on what they thought about the store and what theyd like changed or
improved.
After sifting through roughly 500 e-mails f rom customers and gar-
dening fans across the state of Washington, Jens had a complete sense
of who his customers were and exactly what they wanted to see from
his store.
It was really helpful to me to get a sense of how people think. One
of the things that came out of that was we increased our selection of
perennials and now we try to keep a tight link to what the consumer
wants and what we offer.
Owning a store that offers both home and garden supplies and prod-
ucts can seem a little broad, which is why Molbak went to work right
away defining a clear vision of which products make it to his storefront.
Our goal is to create a store that helps people connect with each
other, with the garden, with the environment, and with the world and
community around them, he says. We think a lot about garden and
home because those are very big parts in peoples lives, and we believe
that what you see when you look outside your kitchen window in the
morning makes a difference in what you do during the day.
Its with that mindset that Molbak chooses his products, ranging
everywhere from water-saving mulch to Rosanna dishware. In keep-
ing with their brand identity, Molbaks always strives to incorporateproduct offerings that are hand-crafted, eco-sensitive and that have
co-branding opportunities. Some of the most popular brand names
they carry include Couleur Nature, Caldrea, Jessie Steele, Vance
Kitira, and Tom Douglas.
The stores departments consist of outdoor living, home and gift,
garden gear, custom creations (from custom containers to one-of-a-
kind floral arrangements) and seasonal plants80 percent of which
are grown locally at their production farm down the road. Their plant
selection includes everything f rom geraniums and Black Mondo Grass
to conifers from Iseliincluding the unique Thuja plicata Whipcord
and Tsuga heterophylla Thorsens Weepingand a variety of inter-
esting succulents and cacti. When people come here they have a very
unique experience than what they would have in any other retail envi-
ronment, says Molbak. People
come here and lose themselves
for hours.
The layout of the store organi-
cally flows from one department
to the next. When customers
The unique layout of Molbak's
Garden + Home takes custom-
ers on a journey through several
departments, each of which flows
naturally into the next.
I like to think we provideinspiration to people.
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walk in one end theyll find everything they need for their outdoorgarden, from big trees to shrubs. If they keep walking, they will run
into the vast supply of perennials, which slowly merges into the annual
plant section. Walking a little further through the labyrinth of spring
pansies or summer fuchsias will lead customers under cover to the
indoor plants and every supply needed to keep those plants alive and
be successful in the garden. The transition is smooth as customers shift
from outdoor to indoor, where they will find products for inside the
home like outdoor and indoor furniture and plants that can live where
no other plant could: silk plants. The final stop along the walk through
Molbaks is where customers can find the products inside the home that
will make them feel more comfortable and help them to feel more con-
nected to their garden. Supplies include personal care products, lotions,
gifts, plates, kitchenware and even food.
mASTerS oF creATioN ANd iNSpirATioN
With a parking lot that can hold more than 300 cars, Molbaks desire
is not to get people in and then quickly see them leave; he wants them
to stay and enjoy the magical experience the store offers. Alongside the
sheer size and stunningly large amounts of inventory, the other part of
what makes the store so unique is the inspiration displays throughout
the store. Molbaks goal was to show customers how to take the items
found in the store and give them a visual example that would inspire
them to re-create part of the experience in their own homes.
We try to give people ideas and stimulate thoughts for them so they
can walk through and say, I can do that at home, or, thats interesting,
I may do that in my garden, says Molbak. I like to think we provide
inspiration to people.
The inspiration not only comes from their displayswhich are leg-endary around the statebut also through their portfolios of custom
creations. Molbaks employees are masters at tak ing a customers ideas
and bringing them to life through their craftsmanship and creativity.
They offer custom services for everything from floral design in silks
and live botanicals, to one-of-a-kind containers, to design consulta-
tion, to even gift arrangements for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays,
and parties.
When the holidays roll around at Molbaks, something magical
happens. The store becomes one big display, complete with twinkling
white lights and carolers melodies heard throughout the complex. We
have professional decorators come in around the holidays, Molbak
adds. People come out starting in early November to see our display
of poinsettias. They stay to have a
cup of coffee and we serve Danish
kringle, which has been a tradi-
tion for a long time going back
for about 40 years now. Its a great
place to come and have a holiday
experience with your family and
Molbak's inspiration displays
throughout the store are designed
to show customers how different
items can be used in their own
homes. The displays have become
legendary around the state.
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bring a little bit of the holiday magic home.
The poinsettia display is worth the trip in itself, with shades that
go beyond the typical red, pink, and white; shades like Merlot and
Strawberries and Cream or one of the hand-painted poinsettias to
match any holiday dcor. Its not abnormal for families to come out
to Molbaks over the holidays to get their picture taken in front of the
giant poinsettia tree to send out as their holiday greeting cards.
expLoriNg ANd diNiNg iN The gArdeN
As if hand-painted florals and home supplies stacked with precision
throughout the store werent enough, Molbaks also plays host to a
number of events and workshops. Like the store itself, each workshop
is seasonally driven and can range from a cooking class on grillingnorthwest salmon with fresh-picked veggies to creating the perfect
outdoor room.
When not teaching cooking classes, running Russells Dining and
Bar restaurant in Bothell, or creating catering masterpieces for his
catering company, Executive Chef Russell Dean Lowell can be found
whipping up decadent, local delights at the Garden Caf at Molbaks.
Lowells passion for local and fresh food and his excellent reputation in
the northwest matches Molbaks overall vision with perfect unison. The
outdoor patio and real wood-burning grill, mixed with the temperate
northwest weather, makes the Garden Caf a perfect spot to relax after
a day of scouring the vegetation throughout the store. Handcrafted
soups, salads, wood-grilled pizzas, quiche, grilled sandwiches, and des-
serts grace the menu, with an assortment of local winesChef Lowell
hosts a wine-makers dinner where he creates a special meal paired with
local wines.
I talked to [Chef Lowell] about seven years ago about doing a caf that
was set in a garden setting with fresh, local foods that were reasonablypriced, and now we have the Garden Caf, says Molbak. Its a great
place to grab lunch for people who are working around town but its also
a great destination place for people who are stopping in to just grab lunch
with the girlfr iends. I recommend the grilled salmon sandwich. iS
aDDRess: 13625 Northeast 175th Street
Woodinville, WA 98072-8558
web sITe:www.www.molbaks.com
owneR: Jens Molbak
fIRsT YeaR In bUsIness: 1956
woRDs of wIsDoM: Live your brand.
fUn faCT: We are a destination garden
center attracting almost 1 million shoppers
each year.
Fast Facts