Corporate Social Responsibility Report

Every spring, Walmart Canada partners with local growers Hilltop Greenhouses on Vancouver Island to stock our garden centres with a season-long supply of fresh plants and flowers. It’s a partnership that dates back to 1994, our first year in Canada and one of many such relationships we enjoy with independent growers across the country.

Hilltop Greenhouses is a family-owned plant nursery based in Victoria that’s been growing annuals and perennials for over 40 years. Richard Murray and his two brothers who run the nursery, formed a partnership with Walmart Canada right from day one to supply stores and supercentres in Vancouver Island and the lower mainland.

Business is blooming non-stop

That partnership has flourished and now a full 75 per cent of Hilltop’s business is directed to Walmart Canada with impressive results; the Murray brothers have seen sales leap an average of nine per cent, year over year.

The Walmart connection has boosted their profitability by vastly increasing the scale of the local market. Our recent shift towards supercentres means increased sales and more foot traffic to our stores. This translates to more sales for our garden centres as customers buy more and more plants at Walmart versus the competition.

Hilltop Greenhouses is now preparing to build more greenhouses to meet the rising demand. For the Murray family, the future looks greener and more prosperous than ever.