About Gleaves Garden Centre & Building Merchants

What is Robert Gleave’s all about then?

I’ve been asked to write a description of Robert Gleave’s Home & Garden Centre for its website and have no idea how to concisely encompass all that it involves.

Family run, Independent, Locally orientated, Service focused, Thousands of products, Brilliant delivery service, Etc etc etc

But to me it’s so much more. I think it’d be easier to start at the beginning . . . . .

The original builders merchants company was established in 1890 (and no I wasn’t around then). It has been Frodsham based since the beginning. In 1981 a man named Joe was working in the area, saw the company and had an idea that they could suit each other very well, so bought it from the retiring owner. (You might also know Joe as Robert, Bob, Mr Gleave, that cockney bloke or the ‘tea boy’ as he likes to tell people his job is)!! Anyway Joe had longed believed that a product for sale is good, but a product for sale with some help and advice is so much better. So he started selling all building and DIY products making sure people had the right product and the knowledge needed to use it correctly. The company grew and flourished and 30 plus years later he still trades using the same philosophy.

Then along came a small local garden centre for sale and Joe thought his trade could expand into a new venture with new challenges, products and ideas so he bought the run down little place, gave it the same TLC, expanded it and eventually combined the two companies together into one big venture becoming ‘Gleave’s Home & Garden Centre’ on Mill Lane by the swing bridge in Frodsham. And happily this is where I join the story. Gleave’s now sells all gardening items too, complementing the builders side, along with a large timber yard, fish products and great delivery service.

Not known for sitting still, Joe (the ideas man) added Route 56 butty van to the business and followed a few years later with The Willow Tree café. Both have grown into great additions to the place and taste testing is a role we all volunteer for daily. Recently Gleave’s has refurbished some of its older buildings on the site to rent out to small local companies looking to enjoy being part of Gleave’s Village (enter into our story the village people - as they have fondly become known). And they couldn’t be more welcome in joining us.

Along the way Gleave’s has collected an eclectic bunch of wonderfully quirky and massively knowledgeable staff, each bringing their own input and ideas to the company. Without them Gleave’s wouldn’t be the place it is today and going to work wouldn’t be nearly as much fun, we are grateful to them all.

Now we have filled our ground and love everyone here what will we do next? Well with Joe on site you just never know but watch this space, this certainly isn’t the end to this happy little story.

So who am I you might be wondering? I am his daughter, his employee, his sensible conscience to some of his crazier ideas, and proud to be one of his number one fans.

- Sal Wilson