Mahopac Mulch Navigates Seasonal, Economic Changes

Michael Brendan Dougherty Chad Collesian of Mahopac Mulch, shown outside his business, is getting ready to transition from spring/summer mulches to winter-friendly firewood. Chad Collesian of Mahopac Mulch is preparing for the winter slowdown, when his business transitions into a firewood and supplies shop. The Route 6 establishment grew out of Collesian’s frustration as a contractor. “I couldn’t get the highest quality products,” he said, “There was poor service, you couldn’t get delivery when you wanted it. So I opened a place for myself.”

Collesian sold his landscaping company and launched Mahopac Mulch in 2002 with just two types of mulch and one type of topsoil. Just seven years later Mahopac Mulch is one of the leading landscape companies in the Hudson Valley, supplying not just mulch, but topsoil, hardscape, gravel, rock, and most recently, all of the must-have E.P. Henry products in the region

Collesian’s business has, of course, been hard hit by the collapse in real estate values. “I can’t lie,” he admitted, “it’s been slow, of course.” But there are encouraging trends. Even as the price of hoes went due south, customers still wanted to build “outdoor rooms”, spaces where they can cook, and entertain guests. “It’s a big trend,” Collesian said, “people like having a fireplace or a firepit. Some of the more upscale orders include outdoor movie screens. Most of our customers around here are going for a 500-sq.-foot patio with a grill and sink built into the design. Pizza ovens are big too.”

Such grandiose plans add value to the house, but since such rooms are considered non-permanent they are not taxed at the same rate as a more traditional expansion. “With people not upsizing their houses, they want to make it nicer.”

Another trend that Mahopac Mulch is capitalizing on is the do-it-yourself movement. Collesian holds workshops on installing lawns properly, and building walls or walkways. “A lot of customers want to build their own drywalls now. It’s a nice weekend project to get the kids off their videogames.”

Even buoyed by these trends, Collesian says he faces some “business challenges to overcome” in New York State. “New York is strangling business,” he stated. “They think they are doing good but they aren’t.” He was referring, in part, to the MTA tax which was announced this summer to ail the hemorrhaging commuter service. He passes me an eye-popping tax bill: “And it’s applied retroactively,” he says of the astounding figure.

“On top of that we lose one customer a week to North and South Carolina,” Collesian says, “people are voting with their feet.” Collesian isn’t referring to companies in those states, but the fact that New York is losing its residents, which Collesian attributes to the high taxes in New York. “People with fixed incomes, they have to move. Or they have to take a job and move, and where are the jobs being created?”

Collesian doesn’t let the bureaucrats get him too far down. “I just have to deal with it. It’s a business challenge, for sure,” he said. “I think people are ready to spend money again,” he added with evident hope. “They’ve been putting their plans on hold. And they are itching to do something. It may be small, it may be scaled back from their dreams before. But they are ready.”

Mahopac Mulch is open from March through November, but sells firewood year round, and also supplies sand and salt to contractors. Collesian also deals some local products including, Quikrete, and SweetPeet to local customers. Collesian says there is a lesson for many businesses struggling in a tough economy.

Even in tough times, Collesian reported that a “positive outlook, that seeks opportunities, is what keeps a business thriving. You may have to de-leverage, and we have. But you seek the next opportunity. Plant those seeds, and watch them grow.”