Business & Tech

Growing the Family Business in New Hyde Park

Rich and Mike Scordo have been in the lawn service business since they were teens.

For the Scordo brothers, everything is about family. Their most recent step in the development of their lawn service business, Eagle Nurseries, is the peak of this family endeavor.

Brothers Rich and Mike began working together when they were in high school on a newspaper route and lawn mowing service separately throughout New Hyde Park. When the lawn mower broke and the two needed to pool together to buy a new one, they realized they worked better together than alone.

The business then continued to grow to the point where they were able to hire other people to work with them. The brothers, both graduates of , studied horticulture and landscaping design at SUNY Farmingdale, all while running the business on the side.

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“We love to work outside and with our hands,” Rich Scordo said.

The opportunity for them to expand even more came 10 years ago when they found an abandoned space on Hillside Avenue on the Queens border, learning how to run a nursery on top of the other lawn services they were already providing.

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In 2010, they found their current Jericho Turnpike location. According to Elizabeth Jaeger, Director of Media and Communications at the , the space was used as a parking lot for the inn during the previous owners’ tenure. Once the inn switched owners, the current owners didn’t want their customers crossing Jericho, opting to build an underground parking lot. The original lot remained in the possession of the previous owners and has been vacant ever since.

The Scordo brothers saw the land as an opportunity.

“It was a clean piece of paper,” Rich said. “We could lay out everything the way we wanted to.”

The brothers also liked the location because it wasn’t far from their old location, but still close to home and their original customer base.

“It’s a good location and we’re very happy,” Scordo said. “We’ve been well received from the people. We’ve had people who remember us when we pulled lawn mowers behind our bikes.”

What is now Eagle Nurseries started in April 2011 just as a fenced in area where they sold plants and ran their lawn service business. Once they obtained permits that July, they were able to install a 3,800 foot greenhouse as well. On top of the lawn services, Eagle Nurseries sells also sells power equipment, on site floral arrangements, propane refills and firewood.

“It’s challenging,” Scordo said. “We work a lot of hours every week.” But for the brothers, it’s all about customer service and letting customers know they do just as much of the work as any other employee.


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