(gentle music) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.

(gentle music) - Just ahead on "Carolina Impact."

- You'll find five decades of flower power here in America's largest greenhouse, right here in Huntersville.

I'm Jeff Sonier.

We'll tell you more about the company that's growing all the plants that you're buying.

- Plus, we go inside a Charlotte marketplace to see how it's adding charm to the Cotswold neighborhood.

And a local woman blends her passions for fragrance and history to create a vibrant life that inspires.

It's all coming up next on "Carolina Impact."

(upbeat music) (upbeat music continues) Good evening, thanks so much for joining us.

I'm Amy Burkett.

We call Charlotte the Queen City because of its history, or Buzz City, because of the Hornets, or maybe Bank Town, because of all our big financial institutions.

But how about Flower Town?

Just outside of Charlotte in Huntersville, is a greenhouse that's six times bigger than the Bank of America building, with more than 1,000 workers, where they've been growing flowers since the 70s.

"Carolina Impact's" Jeff Sonier and videographer Doug Stacker take us inside the biggest building you've ever seen.

Or maybe never seen, until now.

- Yeah, you gotta see Metrolina Greenhouses in person, really, to appreciate the sheer size of this place.

You know, it's bigger than the airplane hangars where they used to build the 747s back in the 70s.

It's even bigger than the Pentagon.

These glass walls here in Huntersville stretch for more than two miles.

So, how about a golden oldie from the 70s to celebrate this 70s success story?

Homegrown, in more ways than one.

♪ I got power ♪ ♪ Power ♪ - [Jeff] If you're picking out plants from Lowe's or Home Depot or Walmart, ♪ I've got power power ♪ - [Jeff] You're also buying from America's largest greenhouse, right here in Huntersville.

♪ I've got power I've got power ♪ - We were growing about 300,000 mums for the fall, and Lowe's said, "Do you want to grow a million of 'em next year?"

And we could have said no, 'cause there was a risk in doing that.

But we said yes, and now we grow 10 million mums.

- [Jeff] In a building so big, it's not measured in square feet, but in square acres.

- From where you see to the end between these poles, about an acre and a half.

This one building is about 50 total acres.

We have about 200 total acres under roof at this facility.

- [Jeff] That all started in 1972, as kind of a mom-and-pop flower shop and nursery.

♪ Power I've got power ♪ - My dad, his big goal was, "Hey, if I ever get to 12 acres, I'd be set to go."

♪ Power, I've got power ♪ - [Jeff] Today, Metrolina Greenhouses is still a family business, owned and operated by brothers Abe, Michael and Art VanWingerden, plus another brother and two sisters, all following in the footsteps of their Dutch immigrant parents, Tom and Vickie, who came to America in 1971 with a green thumb, $5,000, and a vision that transformed their original hothouse into a future flower power house.

- Our dad always said, "Automate or stagnate."

- So he was very big into automation and what can we do to make the the jobs easier for people.

- If you go out in the greenhouse, we're very automated in the things that we do.

(gentle music) (machine whirring) - [Jeff] Metrolina Greenhouses invented the original version of this automatic transplant, that nearly every big nursery business uses today.

(gentle music) (machine whirring) And once those individual plants are growing, they're moved hundreds, even thousands at a time, by these overhead cranes to different parts of Metrolina's nearly nine million square foot greenhouse.

Then of course there's the watering.

(gentle music) - You run two to get the maximum pressure, and then we also have the speed control.

- [Jeff] Grower Robin Statham shows us how it's all done with just the push of a button.

- And so if I wanted to speed it up and go to 30.

- [Jeff] Today, she's putting water on row after row of these still-growing poinsettias.

The watering system, all computer-controlled.

And the water itself?

Well, every drop is recycled rainfall, from these giant greenhouse ponds.

- We pump about a million gallons of water a day on average, here at Metrolina in Huntersville, and about a half a million goes back to the pond.

Any water that falls anywhere on the greenhouse, in the greenhouse, whether it's watering plants, parking lots, it doesn't matter, it goes back to a pond.

- [Jeff] Art VanWingerden is Co-CEO of Metrolina Greenhouses, overseeing its sustainability and technology.

But not everything here at Metrolina is automated.

- Really getting that hand-on-hand contact and taking the plant, looking mostly under the leaves.

- [Jeff] John Morgan is an assistant grower at Metrolina.

And his boss is Chief of Horticulture, Ivan Tchakarov.

- I don't think, that will never change, the human interaction with plants and nature.

We still have people that have to go and manually check roots, check for insects, and it's growing too fast, it's growing too slow.

So all those things that we're the one actually doing and making those calls on daily basis.

- [Jeff] Metrolina Greenhouses is also looking out for those smaller growers in the nursery business.

Not pushing them out of business, but working with smaller growers to share Metrolina's growing success.

- Like a lot of them, mom-and-pop greenhouses, or greenhouses that are 10 acres or smaller, we've done with them is we find what they're really good at growing at, so - - [Jeff] Co-Chief Operating Officer, Michael Van Wingerden says they're just remembering their 50-plus year old roots.

- Some people are really good at growing geraniums, others are really good at growing New Guineas, and we find that, and find their niche, and let them grow those for us.

- [Jeff] Growing for Metrolina means access to those big box stores that Metrolina supplies, and all those big box shoppers.

Plus those Metrolina trucks and trailers that transport 70 million plants a year, right from the greenhouse to your garden center.

And if you're shopping for plants on a garden center website at home, (tape ripping) well, Metrolina will also ship plants right from the greenhouse to your house.

- At this peak season for mums, we're doing around 2,000 boxes a week.

A lot of the smaller items we ship is multi-pack.

So every item goes down the belt here, it gets cleaned, it gets sleeved, has a soil protector on it, it'll go into an insert, and then go into that finished good box to help protect it.

(gentle music) - [Abe] My biggest fear is gardeners not having success, and not coming back next year.

- [Jeff] Co-CEO Abe Van Wingerden says that's why Metrolina also has acres of these outdoor trial gardens, where they do what most gardeners do in their home gardens.

No special watering for the flowers here.

Just plant them to see what grows and what doesn't.

- People can buy a nice plant in a pot and we can make it look nice in the greenhouse, but if it really works for a consumer, it's when it works in the garden.

How big is this plant gonna get?

What do I need to do to it?

Is it gonna change colors over time?

- [Jeff] Because here at America's biggest greenhouse, whether it's mums in the fall, poinsettias during the holidays, or these spring blossoms when the weather warms, they know that if they grow the best flowers, well, their five decade flower business will keep growing too for the next five decades.

- So it's that family business atmosphere we love.

- And we treat our employees like family.

- We built on because there's demand for what we're doing.

Our goal is not to be the biggest.

Our goal is definitely to be the best.

(gentle music) - Metrolina grows and ships more than 70 million plants a year to the big box stores, which is kind of appropriate for a company that started back in the 70s, and is still growing, and going strong.

That all adds up to $350 million a year in sales, which is a lot of green, even for a greenhouse this big.

Amy.

- Thank you so much, Jeff.

Such beautiful flowers.

And to think we knew nothing about it.

Well, to find out more about the history and future of America's largest greenhouse right here in Mecklenburg County, check out our website, pbscharlotte.org.

Next, we learn about another business powering our area.

But first, quick trivia question for you.

How many neighborhoods make up the city of Charlotte?

According to the city's planning division, there are 199.

Each is remarkable in its own way.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis joins us, with the story of one of Charlotte's more unique businesses in one of its most established neighborhoods.

- Well, just like the city of Charlotte itself, the Cotswold neighborhood gets its name from England.

The area is close to uptown, and has population of just under about 5,000 residents or so.

For years, it was known for the Cotswold Mall, which opened in 1963, and had stores like Ernie's Record Bar, Roses, the Deb Shop, Dell Town, Toy Castle, Ivy's, and the Collins Company, you may remember.

The mall is long gone, since replaced by Cotswold Village Shops.

But just across Randolph and Sharon Amity sits the Cotswold Marketplace Retail and Design Center, which is leaving a lasting legacy all its own.

(screen whooshing) (upbeat music) - This here is Laura Dienna.

She also works for another vendor of ours, on the other side of the building.

- [Jason] It's something you don't see all that often these days.

It's not a singular business, but dozens of businesses all under one roof.

- Each one of the vendors here is their own small business.

- This is a designer, Addaroc Hill, her name's Lisa Matthews.

And what makes her different is that she's like a lifestyle.

- [Jason] Store Manager Whitney Norton leads us on a tour of the Cotswold Marketplace Retail and Design Center, a 10,000 square foot showcase, chockfull of home decor, gifts and inspiration.

- We all describe it a little bit differently.

I always like to say it's a home furnishing store with gifts.

Other people describe it differently.

We really are interior design driven.

- [Jason] The marketplace was named one of Southern Living's "30 Best Home Decor Stores in the South."

And because it features roughly 80 small businesses, it has a little bit of everything for everyone, from furniture, sofas, lamps, paintings, jewelry, hats, pottery, baby clothes, rugs, you name it.

There's even a freezer section with pies, and grab-and-go meals.

- So it's not one person having to buy everything for that store.

So 80 people are sharing the burden of the purchasing to what was displayed, so there's a little bit of everything.

- We just want it to be a happy place for the customers to wander around.

- [Jason] The marketplace launched 15 years ago by the mother-daughter combo of Melissa Vandiver and Kate Leary.

- I'm not surprised that she wanted it, it's just in her blood, she can't resist it.

- Retail has been in my blood forever.

- [Jason] Originally from Little Rock, Arkansas, Melissa's been around retail her entire life.

- My mom opened a lady's clothing boutique in the early 1950s.

And back then, women really didn't jump in to open their own businesses, but she did, and she was very successful.

She had that business for about 35 years.

Then my sister, who was still in Little Rock, opened a gift store.

- She had just everything you could possibly imagine and she worked all the time.

- [Jason] Coming to Charlotte in the early 80s, Melissa was ready to put those life skills to use.

- And I got the itch, and I wanted to open my own little store, which I had for a few years, called Favorite Things.

And then I stepped away from that with children.

- [Jason] Once her kids were grown, Melissa was ready to get back into retail, recruiting daughter Kate to go in it with her.

- I was in a job that I could have stayed in, but I didn't really like that much, and was really interested in design.

So it just kind of came together that well, should we try it?

- [Jason] And try it, they did.

Coming on the heels of the recession, Melissa and Kate took a chance, opening the Marketplace in 2010.

- And when we started, it was with Marilyn Monroe coffee mugs and Elvis on velvet.

I'll have people say to me at this point, well, they get real businesslike and serious and they say, "Well what was your business plan?"

"Make a mortgage payment."

That was my business plan.

- Tom and Anne came here from Syracuse, New York.

And this whole space, this used to be two separate spaces.

We lifted the ceiling up for them so that they could get their racks in here.

- [Jason] Any business that's still open after a decade and a half must be doing something right.

And for the Marketplace, that means variety, and keeping things fresh.

- We make an effort to try to make it different.

Move walls, move people around, so that it looks different when you come.

- The vendors, yes, they are spectacular.

Each one of them has their own stake in making it work.

It's their business.

- It's just a continuity.

We know the history and we know the people and the customers know us when they come in.

- [Jason] The family dynamic of Melissa and Kate extends to staff as well, with most employees working at the Marketplace for years, including sisters, Whitney and Erin.

- I wouldn't wanna leave, I don't wanna leave.

I like it here.

It's my favorite job I've ever had, ever.

- [Jason] With that family vibe in place, and continuity among staff, the only real challenge these days at the Marketplace is simply keeping up with current marketing trends.

- When you think about where we were 15 years ago, how did you reach your market?

Well, you had ads, you had print, you had mailers.

All of those things were the mainstay, they were the foundations.

That's changed a bit.

It's Instagram, it's Facebook, it's webpage, and with this crazy thing called algorithms.

Oh my goodness!

What makes this pop up on Instagram?

This go away and we're trying so hard to keep up with it.

- [Jason] And there's a good chance the family vibe at Cotswold Marketplace will continue into another generation.

Certainly appears heading in that direction.

- It's really cool to know that I always have a place to work.

I definitely think that I'll work here one day.

- The children of the people who work here are starting to be here to help during our May sale, and stuff that they can do.

So, it's coming.

- Such a cute story, Jason, but I'm ashamed to say I've never been there.

- And before I did a previous story back in the spring, I had never been in there before either, and I drive through Cotswold every day on my way to and from work and I didn't know it was there.

Now I do.

Hopefully more people will.

Told my wife about it.

I'm like, "Hey, Mother's Day, other different holidays, great place to go pick up some gifts."

- I appreciate the good idea.

Thanks so much, Jason.

Well, we've got two more businesses to tell you about these days.

It seems like we're always rushing around, glued to our devices.

Sometimes the best thing we can do is unplug, meet new people, and try something different.

"Carolina Impact's" Dara Khaalid and videographer John Branscum show us how one Charlotte woman helps people do that.

(screen whooshing) (bright music) - [Dara] Whenever you want a new perfume or cologne, your instinct is to run to the store and grab something off the shelves.

But at Note and Accord in Charlotte, you get to create what's in the elegant square bottle.

- It belongs to me.

I get to name it, I get to curate it.

It's something that I'll always remember.

(bright music) - [Dara] Throughout the small, cozy uptown shop, there are over 250 oil-based scents to choose from, blend together, and make your signature fragrance.

Some are light and sweet.

- [Tya] It reminds me of a cinnamon honey bun.

- [Dara] Others, like rich tobacco, are strong and pack more of a punch.

- Oh, that lime is strong in it.

- [Dara] Then there are those that bring back special memories from long ago.

- I have certain scents that 100% remind me of my dad, or my aunt.

They really transport me to my childhood.

Scent is so closely tied to memory.

So you have scent, fragrance, blending, magic.

- [Dara] For owner Nia McAdoo, breathing in the familiar aromas at her business take her back to when she was a little girl in Buffalo, New York.

- I can remember sitting with my father.

I remember what his lab smelled like.

And it's just a beautiful reminder of growing up surrounded by beautiful things.

And one thing my dad always said is, "It doesn't matter what you have, you always need to smell good."

- [Dara] Her father, Malcolm Tillett, knew a thing or two about fragrances, owning his own company, T. Scents, in Buffalo for 37 years, where he made custom oils and incense.

- That was my first example of what an entrepreneur was.

And so I still have one of his business cards that I carry and I have one that's framed at my home office.

Growing up with that as an example is something I can still point to different lessons that he taught me along the way.

- [Dara] Nia's father passed away in 2007, never getting a chance to see how she followed in his footsteps by opening Note and Accord in 2024.

But he's there in spirit.

- It's a space my dad would've loved.

And I have his newspaper article up, and some of his original packaging from the 70s and 80s, and I think of him often when I'm here, and it's always a beautiful memory.

Some 4372s over here, - [Dara] And this isn't the only business she uses to honor those who've paved the way for her.

- [Speaker] It's going good.

I'm so glad the rain let up!

(bright music) - [Dara] At the Homage Exhibit, you'll find more newspaper articles from the past.

These however, capture difficult moments in African American history.

- So as you go through, you're gonna see highs, lows and everything in between.

- [Nia] It's about presenting the original artifact.

- So this is 1878, - [Nia] And the storytelling that goes with it.

- And so he then moves to Boston, where he becomes the second judge.

- [Nia] It's not from a skewed viewpoint, it's not even necessarily my viewpoint injected in it, but just showing the artifact, allowing people to understand what it is.

- [Dara] Nia runs the exhibit with her husband Morris, who's just as passionate as she is.

It's their private collection that's grown over the past 20 years.

- It is definitely rewarding.

It's definitely great to work with Nia and her vision.

- [Dara] They now have over 650 pieces that showcase African American history and culture, going as far back as slavery, all the way up to the present.

You'll see everything from a slave collar that was used to prevent running away, to a poster of Shirley Chisholm's campaign for presidency in 1972, making her the first Black woman to do so.

There are also items like this orange and green flyer promoting a popular HBCU football game between Hampton Institute and Maryland State College.

And magazines with beauty queens gracing the covers.

- The good thing about the exhibit is that when people come and they see the different parts of different eras, some people will tell their own story, how this affected them or where they were.

- [Dara] It's a mobile exhibit, which means they have to set it up and break it down.

But it also means they get to take it across the country to various places like schools, libraries, and community events.

- Education is so important in being curious and your everyday life is so important, that when these things can travel around and be at different days and different times, it can really reach more people.

(upbeat music) - [Dara] And blending the rich, evocative scents of her handmade fragrances, with the powerful legacy preserved in her traveling African American history exhibit, Nia has created more than just a business.

She's crafted a living tribute to culture, resilience, and identity.

With every bottle she pours, and every story she shares, she honors the past while inspiring the future, proving that history and entrepreneurship can walk hand in hand, with purpose and passion.

For "Carolina Impact," I'm Dara Khaalid.

- I just love all the people we get to meet.

Thank you, Dara.

You can also take your custom scent and turn it into body butter, beard oil, or even linen spray.

Finally tonight, we're sticking with that history theme.

Before he became one of the most influential artists of the 20th century, Romare Bearden was a young boy spending summers right here in Charlotte.

While he's often associated with Harlem, New York, it was the sights, sounds and stories of the South that deeply shaped his legendary collage work.

Videographer Marcellus Jones helps us explore the Southern roots of Bearden's creativity and how his legacy lives on.

(screen whooshing) - [Romare] When I first began to do collages, I had no idea that I was going to develop certain symbols that have run through my work, like the train, the serpent, the guitar.

But these were all natural things that I saw in the life around Mecklenburg County in North Carolina.

And so much of that life that I lived as a young boy has informed my work.

(jaunty music) - Bearden was born, lived for about three years, just about two and a half blocks away at 401 South Grand Street with his grandparents.

He ran a grocery store, convenience store, and then he moved up to New York.

He kind of never left both in terms of his memories, in terms of family being here.

He would come back and visit on occasion, and especially in his paintings of the 40s.

And then once he started making his collages in the 60s all the way up through the 1980s, Mecklenburg County, Charlotte, the people, the environment, all of those things featured frequently in his work.

- I knew him as a young person, as a child, and I was one of the only nieces who had a real interest in art.

So it was wonderful for us to be able to have access to Romare in that way.

I didn't really know him as a famous artist.

I knew that he was someone well-respected.

I knew that he was always working.

Even when there was company, he was always talking, and working about art.

- I was always a full-time painter.

Even when I was working, I was thinking about it.

A lot of people say, "You must have a great, a more of photographs and things."

No, I don't.

All of the things that I do, if I cut out, I just make up.

And it's really in the way I do my collage now is like drawing or painting.

(jazz music) - It means everything to me to have a park that's not just named after Romare Bearden, but reflects his love of art, color, texture.

You can actually get his history at different places in the park.

And also, for me, it's a testament to his reach and his impact, not just here in my hometown, in my city of Charlotte, but also globally.

(jazz music) - The Romare Bearden Park was a project that came into our office when I was pretty new in my career, so I think it came in around 2002.

It was called New West Park at the time.

And so this one, historically, was the neighborhood of Brooklyn, historic African American neighborhood that had changed so much that it was not recognizable as that.

And so as thinking about what could be meaningful as a foundation for what that park would be, and how it could be bringing community together, it was acknowledged that Romare Bearden, having been born here and having visited here a lot would be a great foundation to sort of build the idea of a park around.

- Being from Charlotte is really, really important to have that influence.

If you haven't read about him, read about him, understand what he was doing, and make it part of your work, absolutely.

- It's a matter of discovery.

If you were a hunter, you couldn't say, I'm going out to shoot a deer, a partridge or sparrow, and this is what life is.

You take what you find, and do the best you can with it.

- I never get tired of learning about the great history of this wonderful region.

Thanks so much, Marcellus.

Today the Romare Bearden Foundation continues to expand his legacy, focusing on youth education programs, workshops, and community partnerships.

For those looking to experience his work close up, Charlotte's Mint Museum holds the largest public collection of Bearden's art.

Well, that's all the time we have this evening.

Thanks so much for joining us.

We always appreciate your time, and I look forward to seeing you back here again next time, on "Carolina Impact."

Goodnight my friends.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (bright music continues) - [Announcer] This is a production of PBS Charlotte.