Sunborne Nursery
Sunborne Nursery is a family-owned, B2B wholesale distributor of indoor tropical houseplants serving licensed landscapers, plantscapers, garden centers, florists, and event professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide via palletized shipping.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1975
- HeadquartersRichmond, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Sunborne Nursery does
Sunborne Nursery is a family-owned wholesale distributor of indoor tropical houseplants serving B2B customers in the San Francisco Bay Area and, via palletized shipping, the contiguous United States. Founded in 1975 by Dan Goldman — originally as a chicken ranch in Nipomo, California converted into greenhouses for tropical foliage — the company shifted in 1991 from a cultivation operation to a full-service wholesale distributor sourcing from growers across the country. In 2018 it relocated to a new purpose-built greenhouse facility at 2206 Central St., Richmond, CA, closer to its Bay Area customer base.
The core product is wholesale indoor tropical houseplants sold to approved licensed businesses, including interior plantscapers, landscapers, garden centers, florists, architecture firms, and e-commerce plant sellers, with every plant inspected, cleaned, and treated for pests before distribution. Revenue is generated through three streams: wholesale plant distribution (transaction-fee on plant sales), plant rentals with decorative container upgrades and event-timed delivery/strike services, and delivery/shipping fees (a $60 flat fee for local Bay Area delivery, 11% for Tahoe/Reno, and custom-quoted palletized nationwide shipping). Distribution runs on scheduled regional delivery routes covering all major Bay Area sub-regions plus Sacramento, with nationwide fulfillment via palletized freight.
The go-to-market is a low-tech, relationship-driven B2B model: customers submit a wholesale account application with business license verification, then order by email or pickup, with no public pricing and no e-commerce checkout on the company's own site. Marketing is limited to a Squarespace website and an Instagram account. The company has no external investors, no parent, no subsidiaries, and no disclosed headcount, funding, or revenue.
Sunborne Nursery firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Sunborne Nursery
- Legal name
- Sunborne Nursery
- Website
- https://sunborne.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1975
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Sunborne Nursery is a family-owned, B2B wholesale distributor of indoor tropical houseplants serving licensed landscapers, plantscapers, garden centers, florists, and event professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area and nationwide via palletized shipping.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Sunborne Nursery industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Wholesale Horticulture / Indoor Tropical Plants Distribution
- NAICS
- Nursery and Floriculture Production (11142)
- SIC
- Agricultural Production-Crops (100)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Landscape Plant & Nursery Stock Wholesalers (Grower-Wholesalers) (AFAGAHAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Nursery Production (Woody Ornamentals: Trees, Shrubs, Roses) (AFAGAHAF)
Keywords
Where Sunborne Nursery is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Richmond
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
Sunborne Nursery business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Personnel, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Wholesale Plant Distribution: Core revenue stream from distributing wholesale indoor tropical houseplants to approved business customers including interior landscapers, florists, garden centers, plant stores, and architecture firms.
- Plant Rentals: Event and temporary plant rentals including decorative pot upgrades, delivery, installation, on-site placement, event-timed deliveries, and strike services. Revenue generated from rental fees plus optional decorative container upgrades.
- Delivery and Shipping Services: Local Bay Area delivery with scheduled routes ($60 flat fee or 11% for Tahoe/Reno) and nationwide palletized shipping to contiguous US with custom quotes.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Local Bay Area delivery |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Tahoe/Reno delivery area |
| Other | Pay-as-you-go | Nationwide shipping (contiguous US) |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels4 records
Sunborne Nursery product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Sunborne Nursery is a wholesale distributor of indoor tropical houseplants supplying approved business customers such as interior landscapers, plant stores, florists, garden centers, architecture firms and e-commerce resellers. The company also provides professional plant rentals with decorative pot upgrades and offers scheduled local delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area plus palletized nationwide shipping to the contiguous US.
Product overview
Sunborne Nursery is a wholesale indoor tropical houseplant distributor that operates as a single unified product offering with multiple service modules. The core product is wholesale indoor tropical houseplants, which is complemented by plant rental services (with decorative pot upgrades and event-ready plants), delivery/shipping services (local Bay Area deliveries and nationwide shipping), and a wholesale account program for approved businesses. The company combines wholesale plant distribution, nationwide e-commerce fulfillment solutions, and professional plant rentals into an integrated offering.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Wholesale Indoor Tropical Houseplants Wholesale distribution of indoor tropical houseplants sold to approved business customers including interior landscapers, florists, garden centers, plant stores, architecture firms, and e-commerce resellers. Plants are inspected, cleaned, and treated before delivery to ensure they arrive healthy and pest-free.
- Plant Rentals Wholesale plant rental program featuring fully finished, event-ready plants with decorative pot upgrades, delivery, installation, on-site placement, event-timed deliveries, staging, and same-day or next-day strike services for corporate events, weddings, and trade shows.
- Local Delivery and Nationwide Shipping Services Scheduled local delivery throughout the San Francisco Bay Area on designated weekdays (Tuesday South Bay/Peninsula/East Bay/Contra Costa; Wednesday San Francisco/Marin/Sacramento; Thursday South Bay/Peninsula; Friday San Francisco/East Bay) at a flat $60 fee, plus palletized nationwide shipping to the contiguous United States provided by custom email quote.
Companies that use Sunborne Nursery
Customer profileSegments8 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Sunborne Nursery technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Sunborne Nursery partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Sunborne Nursery competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Metrolina Greenhouses: Metrolina Greenhouses is one of the largest single-site greenhouse operations in the U.S., producing indoor and outdoor ornamental plants for mass-market retailers. Comparable to Sunborne's wholesale plant distribution model but at mass-market scale, supplying big-box retailers rather than regional B2B specialists.
- Bailey Nurseries: Bailey is one of the largest wholesale nurseries in North America, producing shrubs, perennials, and ornamental plants for garden centers, landscapers, and growers. Comparable as a broad wholesale nursery incumbent serving similar B2B re-sale and landscape channels, albeit with much broader SKU breadth and national distribution.
- Greenleaf Nursery Company: Greenleaf Nursery is a multi-state wholesale grower of ornamental and landscape plants serving garden centers, re-wholesalers, and landscape contractors. Comparable as an established wholesale nursery serving the same B2B re-sale and landscape trade channels that Sunborne targets, with a broader geographic footprint.
- Monrovia Nursery Company: Monrovia is a large, established wholesale nursery growing ornamental trees, shrubs, and indoor plants distributed through garden centers, landscapers, and re-wholesalers across the U.S. A broad incumbent in the wholesale nursery category, overlapping with Sunborne on the plantscaper and garden-center channels at greater scale.
- Star Roses and Plants: Star Roses and Plants (a division of Ball Horticultural) develops and licenses branded ornamental and indoor plant genetics, distributed through wholesale growers to retail and landscape channels. Comparable as a branded-plant wholesale counterpart to Sunborne's B2B offering, focused on differentiation through curated genetics rather than commodity foliage.
Emerging players
- Proven Winners: Proven Winners is a plant brand cooperative of independent growers marketing branded annuals, perennials, and shrubs through garden centers and landscapers nationwide. Comparable to Sunborne in B2B wholesale go-to-market, but emerging as a brand-led distributor versus Sunborne's regional full-service wholesale model.
- Suntory Flowers: Suntory Flowers develops and licenses ornamental plant varieties (Surfinia, SunPatiens, Million Bells) distributed through a network of growers and garden centers. Comparable as a brand-led wholesale ornamental plant distributor working through grower networks, intersecting with Sunborne on the interior and outdoor ornamental plant categories.
- Walters Gardens: Walters Gardens is a wholesale perennial plant producer supplying landscape contractors, garden centers, and re-wholesalers across North America. Comparable as a specialist wholesale grower serving B2B landscape and retail channels, overlapping with Sunborne on the licensed-landscaper customer segment though focused on perennials rather than tropicals.
Direct peers
- Costa Farms: Costa Farms is one of the largest growers and wholesale distributors of indoor tropical foliage and houseplants in North America, operating branded programmes (Trending Tropicals, O2 for You) sold through garden centers and big-box retailers. It directly overlaps Sunborne's core offering of wholesale indoor tropical houseplants to B2B customers.
- Hermann Engelmann Greenhouses: A long-established California-based wholesale grower of indoor tropical and ornamental foliage, serving florists, garden centers, and interior landscapers on the West Coast. Closely comparable to Sunborne in product mix (indoor tropicals), geography (California), and B2B wholesale model.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Sunborne Nursery social profiles
Digital presenceSunborne Nursery financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Sunborne Nursery leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Sunborne Nursery funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Sunborne Nursery M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Sunborne Nursery
What does Sunborne Nursery do?
Sunborne Nursery is a wholesale distributor of indoor tropical houseplants supplying approved business customers such as interior landscapers, plant stores, florists, garden centers, architecture firms and e-commerce resellers. The company also provides professional plant rentals with decorative pot upgrades and offers scheduled local delivery in the San Francisco Bay Area plus palletized nationwide shipping to the contiguous US.
Is Sunborne Nursery a public or private company?
Sunborne Nursery is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Sunborne Nursery founded?
Sunborne Nursery was founded in 1975. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Sunborne Nursery based?
Sunborne Nursery is headquartered in Richmond, United States, in the North America region.
How does Sunborne Nursery make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Wholesale Plant Distribution is the primary driver. The others are plant Rentals and delivery and Shipping Services.
Who are Sunborne Nursery's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Metrolina Greenhouses, Bailey Nurseries, Greenleaf Nursery Company, Monrovia Nursery Company and Star Roses and Plants. Emerging players are Proven Winners, Suntory Flowers and Walters Gardens. Direct peers are Costa Farms and Hermann Engelmann Greenhouses.
Does Sunborne Nursery have an API?
No public API is recorded for Sunborne Nursery.
What industry is Sunborne Nursery in?
Sunborne Nursery's product category is Wholesale Horticulture / Indoor Tropical Plants Distribution. Its primary akta.pro industry code is AFAGAHAM, Landscape Plant & Nursery Stock Wholesalers (Grower-Wholesalers), with a secondary code of AFAGAHAF, Nursery Production (Woody Ornamentals: Trees, Shrubs, Roses). Its NAICS code is 11142 and its SIC code is 100.