‘Hafner Brothers’ began in 1922 growing fresh fruits & vegetables. Chuck Hafner’s continues to grow and employs a staff of over 90 people seasonally in Syracuse NY. We continue to invest in local people and the local economy. Chuck Hafner’s history in Syracuse is a story we love to share.
1922 – The Hafner family immigrates to America from Stuttgart, Germany. Chuck’s father George Hafner, and his Uncle Jake Hafner, began farming to support their families. “Hafner Brothers” grew fresh fruits and vegetables which were sold at the Regional Market and to local grocery stores. Their roadside stand consisted of two tables and a canvas awning in front of their house on Taft Road. Before long, the brothers’ business was regarded as one of the premier wholesale vegetable farms in Upstate New York.
1968 – Due to the increased volume of traffic on Taft road, the county decided to widen what was then Fay road from two lanes to four. With the expansion, the Hafner family home was moved around the corner to Buckley Road. Once the house was moved, George and his son Chuck constructed a building that was about the size of a two-car garage so they could sell their fresh fruits and vegetables direct to families in Syracuse, NY. That building was the original “Chuck Hafner’s, Farmers Market.”
1975 – Chuck and his wife Linda built a larger farmers market adjacent to the original farm stand. They began expanding into selling flowers and nursery stock from a newly built greenhouse attached to the farmers market.
Over the next 30 years – To continue providing a great selection and abundant quantity of fresh fruits and vegetables, Chuck constantly expanded his business with numerous retail additions and growing greenhouses. Along the way, he diversified the business, growing world-class annual and perennial flowers as well as an extensive wholesale and retail nursery business. Chuck also started growing Evergreens to sell as Christmas trees. Today, the Christmas Tree Farm has over 100,000 trees in production, growing on approximately 250 acres of Upstate New York farmland. Additionally, Chuck’s signature Evergreens are dug every Spring and Fall and can be seen in landscapes all over Central New York.
2008 – Chuck, Linda, and Jess Hafner move the existing business on Taft Road to their new state-of-the-art Garden Center on Buckley Road. With 65,000 square feet of retail space, a 7-acre nursery, and 4 acres of growing greenhouses, it is considered by the industry as one of the premier Garden Centers in the country.
2017 – Chuck Hafner’s continues to grow their business stocking more and more local products and growing more plants on site. Chuck Hafner’s continually invests in infrastructure. From installing solar panels that reduce our impact on the environment to constructing additional growing houses to increase our onsite growing capacity. Employing a staff of over 90 people seasonally, Chuck Hafner’s continues to invest in local people and the local economy.
