Fairwood Brands, a company designed to acquire and grow existing landscape businesses, has seen monumental success throughout the country. Thanks to its unique business model, it recorded a 96-percent increase in revenue from 2022 to 2023, and positioned itself at No. 39 on the 2024 LM150 list.
The company’s home base is located in Columbus, Ohio, and its network consists of eight subsidiaries that are scattered across the country. These subsidiaries offer premium residential design/build and maintenance services, as stated by Fairwood’s CEO Mike McRae.
Fairwood Brands came into existence in 2022 as a holding company intended to support and stimulate the growth of five established landscape businesses. The concept was devised by Crane Group, a Columbus-based investment firm. According to McRae, Crane Group strategically acquired these five landscape companies, each operating in unique geographic markets across the United States, with the aim of solidifying their presence in the high-end outdoor living services niche.
Since its inception, Fairwood Brands has grown and now houses eight distinct brands under its umbrella. These companies construct and maintain high-quality outdoor spaces, priding themselves on providing exceptional customer service.
In its search for prospective businesses to acquire, Fairwood Brands has a set of specific criteria. They target existing landscape companies with a proven track record of delivering results, a steady revenue stream between $10 million and $30 million, strong local presence, reputation for designing and building upscale outdoor living spaces, and possessing management teams that have a strong desire to continue in the business.
Upon acquisition, these companies get access to Fairwood’s considerable support system. This includes improvements in systems, financial and operational procedures, enhanced employee benefits, legal assistance, and marketing resources. As CEO, McRae’s role involves providing strategic direction and unflagging support to these brands.
The company partly attributes its growth to a mix of acquisitions and organic development. Each acquired company also concentrates on organic expansion, and the list features businesses from various regions, like Redmond, Wheaton, Phoenix, Cape Cod, Sterling, Clinton Township, Fort Wayne and Indianapolis, and Maitland.
Each of these brands has implemented various tactics to stimulate organic growth in their respective markets, McRae says. These landscape companies leverage the advantages of creating peer-to-peer relationships within the Fairwood Brands network, thereby gaining access to flexible capital and extensive business expertise thanks to the company’s partnership with Crane, a family-owned company with 75 years of operating experience.
Even though the company has experienced large-scale growth since its inception, McRae believes that the core of its success lies in attention to detail, especially in terms of focusing on services and personnel. He stresses that investment in employees and product offerings has yielded significant returns, and he encourages others in the industry to emulate this strategy.
Looking forward, McRae is optimistic about Fairwood Brands’ future, citing the support from Crane Group and robust relationships within the network of companies as instrumental to the projected success. He also believes that the housing market’s current conditions, overall wealth status of the country, and demographic trends will further propel the growth of the company.
