Started by James Bluemel, his brothers, and father in the early 1950's, “Bluemel’s Tree Service” originally began as a small-scale nursery, run out of their backyard that offered trees, shrubs, and landscape services to the Metro-Milwaukee area. Their mission consisted of 2 key principles; offer quality tree & landscaping services at competitive pricing, and customer service that would be second to none. As simple as this recipe for success seemed, the few businesses in their budding industry struggled to maintain that integrity on a consistent basis. The 'Bluemel Boys' knew they could be the best and sought-out to prove it.
Even though "Bluemel’s Tree Service" was a considerably small operation, it made a huge impact on their customers. Their customer base appreciated the fact that Bluemel’s was a family business that truly valued and cared about every one of their patrons. It didn’t take long before Bluemel’s gained a solid reputation.
Over the years, Bluemel’s has evolved into a multi-faceted company. Eventually James and his wife Gladys took complete control of the business, and in 1966 they purchased some land on Highway 36 and added new departments such as a retail gift store and floral shop to accompany their plant offerings and landscape services. Alas, “Bluemel’s Florist, Garden & Landscape Center” was born. Each new offering gave Bluemel’s a unique identity, and each brought on new successes. There is no question that the successes they experienced can be directly attributed to their complete focus and dedication to the mission James and his family vowed to before they ever stuck a shovel in the ground.
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In 1992, the reigns were confidently handed over to their son Mike, the youngest of 6 children. Mike Bluemel proudly carries on the tradition of offering high quality products and unbeatable service. Because of his aggressive and innovative approach, Mike and his team have taken the company to heights nobody imagined. To keep up with the changing industry as well as consumer demand, Bluemel's has made some pretty exciting and significant changes since its inception. In 2002, a major overhaul took place as some departments and product lines were eliminated in order to make way for products and services that had more potential for profitability.
The florist portion of the business happened to be one of the noteworthy departments that were eliminated. Meanwhile, the landscape and lawn maintenance, as well as the retail departments were focused on and expanded tremendously. The truck fleet jumped from 15 trucks to over over 45. A brand new shopping and office facility that features the historic, century-old South Division "Dome", of whom Mike's mother Gladys is an alumni, was constructed. The list of improvements goes on and on.
Despite all of the maneuvering and changes made to the business over the years, Bluemel’s has now taken on a more simplified and refined identity. The company is now simply known as “Bluemel’s Garden & Landscape Center”. They feature a retail garden center with an impressive selection of home-grown (or what they and their customers lovingly refer to as “Dome-Grown”) annuals, perennials, herbs, rose bushes, and other bedding plants. Their Bulk Department boasts over 35 bulk varieties of landscaping products such as soil, mulches, construction and decorative stone- ready for pick-up or delivery as well as many landscaping materials available in convenient bags. And with a recently added coffee shop; Blüm Coffee Garden, you’ll quickly find why Bluemel’s Is considered one of Southeast Wisconsin’s best kept secrets. The full-service Landscape & Lawn Maintenance Departments offer a wide variety of services ranging from landscape design and installation to lawn cutting and snowplowing. They specialize in commercial as well as residential properties.
