The current owner of Annie's Annuals, Sarah Hundley Garcia, announced the sudden closure of the nursery on October 3rd.

Right up until they closed, the owner was still pushing the sales of gift certificates.

Now, they will not honor or refund those gift certificates.

If you purchased a gift certificate with a credit card, it would be wise to call your credit card company and request a chargeback.

Receiving pending orders might be iffy, too. The info that was on the website has recently been removed.

It's so sad to lose yet another independent nursery that specialized in the more unusual types of plants.

https://richmondside.org/2024/...

https://richmondside.org/2024/...

https://www.sfgate.com/local/a...

https://www.reddit.com/r/bayar...

(I just read about this online and have no further information. I'm just hoping people can get their money back. It seems very suspicious.)

Sad.
I was so happy to be one of the first wholesale customers of Annie's; we have at least a hundred signs for various plants we sold over the years. The plants were received eagerly by customers, especially because of the enthusiastically giddy descriptions on the signs.
At some point Annie decided that she would only ship rather than deliver, and we ceased ordering her plants weekly. I would still go there and pick up plants occasionally, but Annie herself seemed to become dismissive and mildly insulting, and her prices climbed too high. I had shared (free) several plants with her, but she seemed to forget this.
When she sold the nursery I hoped things might improve. I didn't notice much change.
Maybe some local nursery company with deeper pockets will ride in on white horse and save the day.
Here's hoping…

Wow. That is so awful. Poor Annie must be heartbroken that her business has ended like this.

If anyone has a gift certificate or uncompleted order, I would seriously recommend contacting the Alameda DA's office at https://www.alcoda.org/about-t....

You can dispute the charges with your credit card company but that won't result in any charges against the current owner. By contacting the DA, they can determine if there is criminal behavior to prosecute by the failure to provide refunds.

More info on the gift card & pending orders situation,

https://richmondside.org/2024/...

California Civil Code Section 1749.6:

(a) A gift certificate constitutes value held in trust by the issuer of the gift certificate on behalf of the beneficiary of the gift certificate. The value represented by the gift certificate belongs to the beneficiary, or to the legal representative of the beneficiary to the extent provided by law, and not to the issuer.

(b) An issuer of a gift certificate who is in bankruptcy shall continue to honor a gift certificate issued prior to the date of the bankruptcy filing on the grounds that the value of the gift certificate constitutes trust property of the beneficiary.

(c) (1) This section does not alter the terms of a gift certificate. The terms of a gift certificate may not make its redemption or other use invalid in the event of a bankruptcy.

(2) This section does not require, unless otherwise required by law, the issuer of a gift certificate to:

(A) Redeem a gift certificate for cash.

(B) Replace a gift certificate that has been lost or stolen.

(C) Maintain a separate account for the funds used to purchase the gift certificate.

(d) (1) This section does not create an interest in favor of the beneficiary of the gift certificate in any specific property of the issuer.

(2) This section does not create a fiduciary or quasi-fiduciary relationship between the beneficiary of the gift certificates and the issuer, unless otherwise provided by law.

(3) The issuer of a gift certificate has no obligation to pay interest on the value of the gift certificate held in trust under this section, unless otherwise provided by law.

(Added by Stats. 2002, Ch. 997, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2003.)

Here is the next chapter:

https://www.kqed.org/news/1201...

Unfortunately, people holding gift cards or who have undelivered orders will still have to stand in line behind everyone one else who has filed claims against the old Annie's.

I'm glad the business will continue under the employees' control, even under a new name.