Kiski Garden Center in Allegheny Township under new ownership

A popular year-‘round garden center in Allegheny Township is under new ownership.

Dave Vargo, former owner of Kiski Garden Center, sold his business Friday for $200,000 to Pat D’Amico of Buffalo Township.

Vargo removed a large banner outside his former business that same afternoon as D’Amico looked on and later, Vargo presented D’Amico with a celebratory cake to mark the occasion.

Vargo plans to work part time on an as-needed basis at the garden center that boasts seven greenhouses and a year-‘round Christmas shop.

“It’s the best demotion I ever got,” Vargo joked.

D’Amico owns and operates Pat’s Perfect Produce, a mobile fresh produce stand.

He graduated from Freeport Area High School in 2011 and grows veggies on his 15-acre farm in Buffalo Township.

He said the decision to buy Kiski Garden Center fit in with his plan to expand his business.

D’Amico plans to add a 1940s vintage truck outside to sell freshly grown produce and to construct two additional greenhouses, for a total of nine on the property.

Hundreds of thousands of seedlings are grown annually in greenhouses on the three-acre property and the planting process has already started .

Store manager Linda Ban will remain a fixture at the garden center, which is located at 991 South Leechburg Hill Road. She’s worked there since 1994.

“I feel like it’s an end of an era but it’s a start of a new one,” Ban said. “Customers have been asking about the future of the business on a daily basis. It’s going to be business as usual.”

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review

Dave Vargo, owner of Kiski Garden Center in Allegheny Township, announced his impending retirement last October with a sign posted outside his popular gardening and feed business. Vargo is selling the business after more than 35 years.

D’Amico holds a degree in horticulture from Penn State University and honed his green thumb by gardening alongside his late grandfather, Bill Sababini of Rural Ridge.

“I’m thrilled because it’s a dream of mine to be able to have my own brick-and-mortar garden store,” D’Amico said. “I look to having a great time here.”

D’Amico’s mother and store co-owner Judi D’Amico will handle administrative duties and marketing.

“It’s huge in a lot of ways. This has been Pat’s passion, and it’s the perfect business for him. He’ll see his goals and visions come to life,” she said. “He’s going to be front man making decisions, and I’ll be helping out any way I can.”

Customers can expect a turn-key transition.

“Customers can expect to see things stay the same,” Pat D’Amico said.

D’Amico doesn’t own the building; it’s leased from Marvin Williams of Apollo.

D’Amico and his mother report to the garden center almost daily to learn the ropes from Vargo.

“He’s great with people and knows his gardening,” Vargo said.

Joyce Hanz | Tribune-Review

Twin siblings Ashley and Mary Kate, 15, are the resident cats at Kiski Garden Center in Allegheny Township. Both cats have lived at the pet, feed and garden business their entire lives and earn their keep by mousing and interacting with customers.

Mary Kate and Ashley, the elder resident cats that live at the garden center, appear to be nonplussed over the ownership change.

“Pat gives them so much attention,” Ban said. “They like Pat, and he makes sure to spend time with them.”

Popular with customers, the felines were included in the terms of the sale.

“Those cats follow me around everywhere,” D’Amico said. “They’re not going anywhere.”

A meet-and-greet open house for customers is scheduled for spring.