Kiski Garden Center's operator set to retire, business is for sale

A longtime Alle-Kiski gardening guru is retiring.

Dave Vargo, owner of Kiski Garden Center in Allegheny Township, announced the sale of his business and his retirement last week.

A large banner outside his business reads “Time To Retire — Garden Center For Sale.”

Vargo, 68, said he did the math and told his son it was time to retire after 41 years in horticulture.

“It’s tough. I really don’t want to go, but I have to go,” Vargo said. “Everything will be the same — except I just won’t be here seven days a week.”

The year-round, full-service garden center with seven greenhouses is at 991 S. Leechburg Hill Road. The business is listed for $200,000 and is offered turnkey-ready.

Vargo doesn’t own the building; he leases the property from Marvin Williams of Apollo. Vargo estimated the monthly rent at about $1,600 but did not have an exact amount.

Spring inventory already has been ordered, Vargo said.

“It’s a screaming deal,” said Vargo, adding the sale includes all inventory and equipment — plus two 15-year-old resident sibling felines named Mary Kate and Ashley.

Garden center manager Linda Ban said the cats have never lived anywhere else.

“It’s all they know,” Ban said of the felines who earn their keep by providing rodent patrol on the grounds. “They’re good at mousing and getting chipmunks.”

Vargo said he’d love to see a landscaper buy the business because it’s a fixture in the Alle-Kiski Valley.

“People come from all over — Butler, Pittsburgh — it’s a good opportunity, and the goal is to keep it a garden center.”

As a teenager, Vargo learned to garden alongside his late uncle Tony. He went on to earn a degree in horticulture from Penn State University. For years, Vargo contributed columns about gardening to the Valley News Dispatch and other publications.

“I’ve never lived anywhere else,” said Vargo, who lives in Gilpin. “It didn’t matter to me whatever came up — here I am. I stayed.”

Ban said the news of the sale and Vargo’s impending retirement came as a surprise.

“I guess I wasn’t ready for this,” said Ban, who has managed the center since 1994 and considers Vargo a close friend.

Customers can expect to keep shopping while the garden center is on the market.

“It will be open, business as usual,” Ban said.

Vargo said key employees will remain and help mentor the new owner.

“It’s established. The new owner will be making money the day they turn the key,” Vargo said.