AJ has been working at Petitti Garden Centers (No. 2 on Garden Center's Top 100 List) since age 7. He studied marketing and finance at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, graduated in 1999, and came straight into the business. Currently, AJ serves as president of the organization.

Petitti Garden Centers operates 10 retail stores serving the Cleveland, Akron-Canton, and Youngstown communities. They also grow 98% of the plant material they sell; operating a 4,500-acre tree and shrub nursery in Lake County, Ohio, and a 50-acre greenhouse facility in Columbia Station, Ohio, where annuals, perennials and tropical plants are produced.

AJ regularly appears on WJW Fox 8 News to educate, inspire, and support the success of garden enthusiasts across Northeast Ohio.

His other accomplishments include:

• Today’s Garden Center Revolutionary Retailer in 2007
• Green Profit’s Young Retailer of the Year in 2006
• IGC’s Retailer of the Year in 2013
• Smart Business Magazine’s Smart 50 Business Leaders in 2015

Other Resources Include:

Eyes on the Horizon
The Story Behind Petitti's: 50 Years & Growing