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Inspiring business stories from the Heart of Berks County
The succession papers were signed in March. Diane's children each now hold a stake in the business, with more ownership transferring over the next four years. Her role, the way she tells it, will need to be divided; things she's carried alone for decades will get distributed, and the people she's built up around her will carry them forward. She's made her peace with that. More than that, she built toward it. "I need to let them," she says.
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Alaina also brought a more intentional social media presence to the business after returning, and the visibility change was noticeable to people who'd been following Riverview from the outside for years. Workshops, events and educational programming have followed. The logic is the same as it's always been: a well-informed customer comes back. The business follows the season. And the season is always changing.
When big box stores arrived and captured roughly 80 percent of the independent garden center market for green goods, Diane didn't wait to see what would be left. She changed the name, shifted the store's focus and kept moving. None of it happened on her own — Diane is the first to say that her staff, many of whom have worked alongside her for years and even decades, made every shift and every expansion possible.
The paving company they ran in the 1970s, 80s and 90s is gone. Tree work has largely given way to landscape design, hardscaping projects, pond installation, and extensive commercial and residential property maintenance. In the garden center, tools and chemicals maintain their small presence, but gifts, home decor, children's toys, and specialty items have grown to fill the rest. Six years ago, Diane added Jellycat stuffed animals to the inventory. They now move at roughly the same volume as the shrubs.
"You have to go with what's working," she says. "You've got to be open to new paths if you're going to succeed."
The cultural shifts behind some of these changes were real and worth paying attention to. A generation of millennials got into gardening and homesteading. Gen Z filled their apartments with houseplants—partly, Alaina notes, because so many of them can't afford to buy homes with yards. A public that once had a thin understanding of where food actually comes from started showing up with better questions and a genuine interest in growing things. Alaina sees something larger in that shift. "Caring for the earth, being with nature… it's becoming ever more important," she says. "It's an integral part of who we are as human beings."
the Times
In her opinion, owning a business largely means being responsible for the people who show up for it every day, entrusting Riverview Garden & Gifts with their livelihoods, their growth and their sense of belonging to something.
"That's always been a value for our family," she says. "And we take the responsibility of that very seriously."
Diane Salks has been running Riverview Tree & Landscaping Inc. since 1995 in an industry that has, by long tradition, been predominantly male. She doesn't lead with that fact, however. She leads with the work, the quality and the expectation that people will hold up their end. But she’s got some stories about what happens when they don’t.
There was the CDL driver applicant who found out a woman owned the place and announced he didn't work for women. Diane showed him the door—no one who has met Diane, with her distinctive voice and no-nonsense attitude, would expect anything less. There were bids she didn't get because the deals were made on golf courses she wasn't invited to. There were times when the only way through was to be very clear about exactly who she was and what she was doing.
Her advice to fellow women in leadership and business? "Set your standards and stand your ground," she says. "You know what you want to do. You know how you have to do it."
That directness extends to how she thinks about running a business: know your value, don't undercut yourself to land a client and build a support system you can trust. A good accountant and good lawyer are also a must, she reminds us.
A theater arts graduate turned park ranger, second-generation female owner Alaina came back to Riverview after a stint in California among the oldest trees in the world. She brought home a careful eye, a love of the land and a social media savvy that made the business newly visible to people who hadn't found it yet.
Something Real
Donald Haas spent years working his way up at Penn Line, from tree trimmer to Eastern District Supervisor, before deciding to build something of his own. He knew the Pettit family, who owned a piece of land on Pricetown Road with a small greenhouse, a tiny holly farm and a lot of forest. He made a deal: the Pettits could stay in their home for a dollar a year. He'd get to work on the rest.
Riverview Tree and Landscaping Inc. opened in 1973 doing commercial and residential property maintenance, landscape design and the tree work Donald knew best. His daughter Diane was in college at the time. She went on to teach school for nearly a decade before coming back to help her father (first part-time, then full-time), and in 1995, she took over entirely.
The garden center, which now operates as Riverview Garden & Gifts, came in stages. The first structure went up about 39 years ago: a small gift shop at the top of the property, followed by a greenhouse. In 2006, the family opened the large garden center that anchors the property to this day.
Nineteen days after the expansion opened to the public, Donald passed away. He never got the opportunity to truly experience what he spent years building and defining.
"He attracted very good people," Diane says of her father, with both pride and a touch of sadness. "He was very good at promoting loyalty and teaching people. We try to do the same thing."
That's been the throughline. Not a single product line or service, but a way of operating: find people you trust, teach them well and treat them like they matter. Some of Riverview's staff have been here for over 40 years.
Brothers Ron and Frank Gattone are a prime example of that loyalty. Frank devoted 46 years to Riverview before retiring, and Ron, now past the 53-year mark, still comes in part-time; and he’s not the only one! When longtime employees retire, they tend to stay nearby, picking up a shift or two each week because they're not quite ready to leave. The current crew has staff who've been here for over 30 years.
Donald started with holly trees and a truck. Three generations of his family are now running the business he built, and every team member represents a foundational part of what Riverview became.
In 1973, Donald Haas left a steady job as Eastern District Supervisor at Penn Line and started a landscaping company on a piece of land in Temple that most people would have walked past without a second look. The property had a small greenhouse, a little holly farm and a lot of forest. Never one to back down from a hard job, Donald and his crew rolled up their sleeves and went to work excavating, clearing and planting seeds (literally and figuratively) for the future. Fifty-three years later, many things look different, while others feel exactly the same. Riverview Tree & Landscaping Inc.’s story is marked by challenges and heartbreak, but also opportunity and freedom.
Inspiring business stories from the Heart of Berks County
Alaina
Marketing Expert /
Part Owner
"Even as a child, I found I really liked learning about plants, being outside and getting to work with my hands. It was the kind of job where you could sing all day if you wanted to."
Aleah Salks
Garden Center Manager
Where the garden center floor could feel overwhelming at the height of the season, Aleah brings a steadiness to it—a thoughtful, measured presence that makes customers feel genuinely looked after.
Aleks Salks
General Foreman / Landscape Designer / Part Owner
Aleks runs the landscape crew out back with the same energy he brings to every situation and person he encounters. He takes the work seriously. Himself, not always!
Diane Salks
President
"When things went wrong, we put our backs together. There was nobody in the world that was going to change that."
Interested in learning more about a GRCA membership and a chance to be featured in an upcoming feature story?
Want to explore additional Growth & Transformation Stories from Reading, PA.? Visit the GRCA's dedicated webpage.
Explore Bell Media Group's Marketing Magic in Berks County.
a
The succession papers were signed in March. Diane's children each now hold a stake in the business, with more ownership transferring over the next four years. Her role, the way she tells it, will need to be divided; things she's carried alone for decades will get distributed, and the people she's built up around her will carry them forward. She's made her peace with that. More than that, she built toward it. "I need to let them," she says.
Alaina also brought a more intentional social media presence to the business after returning, and the visibility change was noticeable to people who'd been following Riverview from the outside for years. Workshops, events and educational programming have followed. The logic is the same as it's always been: a well-informed customer comes back. The business follows the season. And the season is always changing.
When big box stores arrived and captured roughly 80 percent of the independent garden center market for green goods, Diane didn't wait to see what would be left. She changed the name, shifted the store's focus and kept moving. None of it happened on her own — Diane is the first to say that her staff, many of whom have worked alongside her for years and even decades, made every shift and every expansion possible.
The paving company they ran in the 1970s, 80s and 90s is gone. Tree work has largely given way to landscape design, hardscaping projects, pond installation, and extensive commercial and residential property maintenance. In the garden center, tools and chemicals maintain their small presence, but gifts, home decor, children's toys, and specialty items have grown to fill the rest. Six years ago, Diane added Jellycat stuffed animals to the inventory. They now move at roughly the same volume as the shrubs.
"You have to go with what's working," she says. "You've got to be open to new paths if you're going to succeed."
The cultural shifts behind some of these changes were real and worth paying attention to. A generation of millennials got into gardening and homesteading. Gen Z filled their apartments with houseplants—partly, Alaina notes, because so many of them can't afford to buy homes with yards. A public that once had a thin understanding of where food actually comes from started showing up with better questions and a genuine interest in growing things. Alaina sees something larger in that shift. "Caring for the earth, being with nature… it's becoming ever more important," she says. "It's an integral part of who we are as human beings."
the Times
In her opinion, owning a business largely means being responsible for the people who show up for it every day, entrusting Riverview Garden & Gifts with their livelihoods, their growth and their sense of belonging to something.
"That's always been a value for our family," she says. "And we take the responsibility of that very seriously."
Diane Salks has been running Riverview Tree & Landscaping Inc. since 1995 in an industry that has, by long tradition, been predominantly male. She doesn't lead with that fact, however. She leads with the work, the quality and the expectation that people will hold up their end. But she’s got some stories about what happens when they don’t.
There was the CDL driver applicant who found out a woman owned the place and announced he didn't work for women. Diane showed him the door—no one who has met Diane, with her distinctive voice and no-nonsense attitude, would expect anything less. There were bids she didn't get because the deals were made on golf courses she wasn't invited to. There were times when the only way through was to be very clear about exactly who she was and what she was doing.
Her advice to fellow women in leadership and business? "Set your standards and stand your ground," she says. "You know what you want to do. You know how you have to do it."
That directness extends to how she thinks about running a business: know your value, don't undercut yourself to land a client and build a support system you can trust. A good accountant and good lawyer are also a must, she reminds us.
A theater arts graduate turned park ranger, second-generation female owner Alaina came back to Riverview after a stint in California among the oldest trees in the world. She brought home a careful eye, a love of the land and a social media savvy that made the business newly visible to people who hadn't found it yet.
Something Real
Donald Haas spent years working his way up at Penn Line, from tree trimmer to Eastern District Supervisor, before deciding to build something of his own. He knew the Pettit family, who owned a piece of land on Pricetown Road with a small greenhouse, a tiny holly farm and a lot of forest. He made a deal: the Pettits could stay in their home for a dollar a year. He'd get to work on the rest.
Riverview Tree and Landscaping Inc. opened in 1973 doing commercial and residential property maintenance, landscape design and the tree work Donald knew best. His daughter Diane was in college at the time. She went on to teach school for nearly a decade before coming back to help her father (first part-time, then full-time), and in 1995, she took over entirely.
The garden center, which now operates as Riverview Garden & Gifts, came in stages. The first structure went up about 39 years ago: a small gift shop at the top of the property, followed by a greenhouse. In 2006, the family opened the large garden center that anchors the property to this day.
Nineteen days after the expansion opened to the public, Donald passed away. He never got the opportunity to truly experience what he spent years building and defining.
"He attracted very good people," Diane says of her father, with both pride and a touch of sadness. "He was very good at promoting loyalty and teaching people. We try to do the same thing."
That's been the throughline. Not a single product line or service, but a way of operating: find people you trust, teach them well and treat them like they matter. Some of Riverview's staff have been here for over 40 years.
Brothers Ron and Frank Gattone are a prime example of that loyalty. Frank devoted 46 years to Riverview before retiring, and Ron, now past the 53-year mark, still comes in part-time; and he’s not the only one! When longtime employees retire, they tend to stay nearby, picking up a shift or two each week because they're not quite ready to leave. The current crew has staff who've been here for over 30 years.
Donald started with holly trees and a truck. Three generations of his family are now running the business he built, and every team member represents a foundational part of what Riverview became.
In 1973, Donald Haas left a steady job as Eastern District Supervisor at Penn Line and started a landscaping company on a piece of land in Temple that most people would have walked past without a second look. The property had a small greenhouse, a little holly farm and a lot of forest. Never one to back down from a hard job, Donald and his crew rolled up their sleeves and went to work excavating, clearing and planting seeds (literally and figuratively) for the future. Fifty-three years later, many things look different, while others feel exactly the same. Riverview Tree & Landscaping Inc.’s story is marked by challenges and heartbreak, but also opportunity and freedom.
