A long-running pots and planters business is up for sale.

And owner Debbie Lombardo, who is retiring, said the Lots of Pots store at the Bermuda Athletic Association in Hamilton offered room for growth and branching out into other goods.

Ms Lombardo said: “It’s been a very profitable and satisfying business.

“It’s seasonal, but that worked well for me because at one point I was still running a small business in Colorado and also a store which imported handicrafts from around the world.

“It worked well for me to be here when I was busy and in Colorado when I was busy over there.”

Ms Lombardo, 66, said that she had sold off her Colorado businesses and wanted to finally retire.

She said: “I’m ready to retire — I will be 67 this summer and these pots don’t get any lighter.

“It’s been a great business and it’s enabled us to travel and meet all kinds of people and keep up relationships with suppliers we have had in Mexico for 30 years.

“But it’s time. I don’t have any regrets and it’s not as if I won’t have anything to do. I’m expecting grandchild number four, so it’s be great to spend more time with my grandchildren.”

The business started almost by mistake 20 years ago, selling pots out of a container in the Bermuda Forwarders yard in Pembroke.

Ms Lombardo explained: “The funny story is we first ordered a container of pottery for a nursery and they sold the whole container in three weeks then ordered another container.”

But she added the nursery owner was not convinced that pots were viable and cancelled the second delivery.

Ms Lombardo said: “We had already ordered it, so that’s what made us decide to start the business. Their loss was our gain.”

She added that the business could easily be expanded into pre-planted pots, while the BAA site offered room for expansion into other areas like outdoor statuary and furniture.

Ms Lombardo said: “It would be a great business to grow and it’d be a great business for someone who already has a small business and wants a very good location.

“It’s fabulous — it’s practically in town but not in town and there is a lot of passing traffic. We’ve often thought this would be a great place for an outdoor market of any description if people wanted a location that mends itself to the open air market place.”

Ms Lombardo said the outdoor store, rented from the BAA, offered a reasonable rent which includes power, water and bathrooms.

Anyone interested in viewing Lots of Pots should contact Unicasbuyer@hotmail.com or contact 504-1094 and 504-3780.