Our Office Staff
Gordon Schalow
Owner
Gordon began working for the family business, pulling weeds in the fields, when he was just eight years old. Over the course of many years, Gordy gained more responsibility and experience within the company. After working hard on the landscaping crews, he eventually saved up enough money to buy the business from his parents, Dave and Carole.
While working on the crews, Gordy also attended MATC, earning a degree in Horticulture and Landscape Design. He became the owner and president of Schalow’s Nursery in 1991. In 1995 he became a certified Landscape Architect by the State of Wisconsin.
Gordy enjoys taking an ordinary space or yard and turning it into an extraordinarily beautiful landscape. One of the most valuable aspects of Gordy’s job is creating and maintaining relationships with members of the community he grew up in.
Mark Schalow
Plant Inventory Manager
Mark has been a part of the Schalow's Nursery team for 33 years, and specializes in Irrigation Design and Installation. Mark works year-round at Schalow's Nursery. His winter months are spent bidding on residential and commercial projects, reviewing the previous year's company performance and removing snow for active accounts. The spring and summer months are spent implementing project designs.
He has continued to learn as the job has evolved from designing on pencil and paper, to the use of computers and software that are available today.
Mark enjoys the entire process of watching each job develop from the planning stages to the final customer reactions, as well as being able to be actively involved in each job. Schalow's customers are sure to receive the best care because of the experience of the Schalow's team. Mark believes experience and longevity are key in the problem solving necessity in the industry.
Mike Kupfer
Operations Manager
Mike has been a part of the landscape and horticulture business for 30 years. He joined the Schalow's Nursery team full-time in 1991, after graduating from college. He has held several positions on the Schalow's Nursery team, including crew member, foreman, and supervisor.
Mike enjoys his work because it is always changing. He is constantly facing new challenges with the weather, the various scopes of projects, and the materials used on projects. He enjoys being able to solve problems on the job, working outdoors and working with customers to help overcome obstacles.
Amanda LaBarge
Garden Center Manager
Amanda grew up in central Wisconsin, graduated from UW-River Falls in 2005 and has a minor in Horticulture. She lived in the Western Wisconsin region for a number of years before moving back to the area to be closer to family. Her career at Schalow's started in August of 2018 as a Garden Center Associate and was promoted to Garden Center Manager in 2021.
Amanda has always loved digging in the dirt so she was very excited to start working out in the sunshine among all the plants. She was a little caught off guard by how much she enjoyed spending time in the retail store creating displays and merchandising products. There is a satisfaction in creating a display and watching merchandise move off the floor because you helped someone envision it in their home.
She loves connecting with customers and helping them find that perfect gift for someone or just the thing they were looking for to decorate their home. One of her favorite things in the whole wide world is putting together patio planters for all seasons!
When Amanda isn't working her favorite place to be is at home with her husband and three dogs. She's always rearranging and decorating at home and tending to her house plant collection that has grown since working at Schalow's! She's acquired a scoach of an addiction to Pothos, Snake Plants, Hoyas, Anthurium, PonyTail Palms...the list goes on.
Our History
Over 50 years ago, Dave Schalow had a love for plants and a dream to own a business. Now, 50 years later, Schalow's Nursery is a fixture in the Marshfield community. Dave and Carole Schalow were young and ambitious in the spring of 1965, when they moved into their new home and started Schalow's Nursery. At that time, they had no idea how substantially the business would grow and that their new venture would become such a prominent fixture in the Marshfield community.
At first, Schalow's Nursery was a home-based business. Dave Schalow worked out of his garage with two employees. The only assets the company had were an old truck and trailer. In addition to running Schalow's, Dave also continued to work at Consoweld in Wisconsin Rapids. Carole Schalow was in charge of bookkeeping and sales. They ran Schalow's Nursery like this for 12 years, until 1977, when they decided to grow the business, and their family, into what it has become today. To anyone who has driven past Schalow's Nursery, it is obvious that the business no longer runs with an old truck and trailer out of a garage.
Today, the fleet is green and growing. The Schalow's team manages all phases of landscaping, maintenance, lawn mowing, lawn installation, hardscape and irrigation. Customers are easily able to fulfill all aspects of their landscaping needs within Schalow's Nursery. There is a knowledgeable, friendly staff to provide superior service for every aspect of the process, from the original design through final implementation. In addition to the physical changes of the Schalow's building and properties, there have also been many technological changes. Schalow's Nursery no longer uses paper and pencil for business procedures and landscape design. Instead, they have ample computer programs to enhance the design process and make the business run more smoothly. The Schalow's team and employees continue to attend educational seminars at trade organizations. The business is constantly evolving and striving to keep up with the demands of the customers.
Schalow's Nursery has fulfilled and exceeded any dreams Dave and Carole once had and they take great pleasure in being able to realize the dreams of their customers as well. A new generation of Schalow's, Gordon and Mark Schalow, are now operating the business. We are always looking to innovate and grow Schalow's to better serve our customers and community.
A Glance at the Past
Founders
Dave & Carole, 1967
Early Days
Working out of Dave & Carole's garage, circa 1975
Our First Garden Center
In the lower right hand corner, you can see the small retail store we started with.