Stuppy Celebrates 150 Years

Chris Beytes

Stuppy was founded as Stuppy Floral Inc. in 1873 by Laurence Justinian (L.J.) Stuppy in St. Joseph, Missouri. L.J. was a court reporter and hobby flower grower who decided to grow and sell flowers full time. His sons Francis and John carried on the business, expanding into wholesale distribution of flowers and supplies to the local floral industry.

The third generation, George and Frank, took over in the late ’30s; they were responsible for getting Stuppy into the greenhouse construction business, including the marketing of evaporative cooling from Acme Engineering and Manufacturing in Oklahoma, which also got them into the greenhouse supply business.

George’s son, Jim, entered the business in 1971. He got the Stuppy family out of flower growing to focus solely on wholesale floral distribution and greenhouse manufacturing. The fifth generation, Jim’s son, Matt, current president, decided to sell the wholesale floral business to focus exclusively on greenhouses, including construction.

Go HERE if you want to know more about the fascinating history. GT