MIDDLETON, WI. – The Bruce Company announced today that Seth Nicholson has been appointed CEO and President of Wisconsin’s largest landscape services business founded in 1952.
Bliss Nicholson, Seth Nicholson’s father and the company’s previous CEO, takes the role of Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors.
After founder Lee Bruce stepped back in 2008 in a leadership transition, Bliss Nicholson guided the company through a transformative period of alignment and expansion.
As chairman, Bliss Nicholson will continue to shape the company’s long-term vision, guide board strategy, foster a strong culture, and support the company’s leadership, management, and execution of its 10-year plan.
Seth Nicholson, 49, started working at the company when he was 12 years old and most recently was president and COO. He is past president of the Wisconsin Nursery and Landscape Association and is active in national executive groups including business peer groups and industry associations.
“Bliss’s remarkable 54-year journey—from field operations to Executive Chairman of the Board—reflects the spirit of hard work and loyalty that defines us,” said Seth Nicholson. “Our goal remains clear: to serve our customers, empower our team, and grow purposefully as we head toward our 100-year milestone.”
In addition to the iconic garden center that began in the 1950s at 2830 Parmenter St. in Middleton, the company provides landscape construction and grounds management to many of the area’s largest and most successful companies. It also operates a wholesale landscape supply and a nursery operation for local landscapers.
The Bruce Company earned a perennial spot in Lawn & Landscape Magazine’s National Top 100 and Madison Magazine’s Best of Madison award for 18 years. Other awards include InBusiness Magazine’s Executive Choice Award and The Wisconsin State Journal’s People’s Choice Award – emphasizing the company’s reputation as the area’s most trusted name in outdoor expertise.
“We are confident Seth, alongside the executive and operations teams, will continue to support our employees’ mission to remain the area’s outdoor living experts who give gardeners and businesses smart choices to create extraordinary memories in backyards, neighborhoods, corporate campuses, and healthcare healing centers,” said Bliss Nicholson. He emphasized that the company has a solid foundation that includes clear strategy and a process that empowers the full execution of the company’s plan for the next 10 years.
Seth Nicholson leads the company’s plan to develop 14 acres of its land in Middleton into a needed complex for about 800 residents that will become the face of the city’s proposed Garden District with added access to recreational parkland along Pheasant Branch Creek.
The Bruce Company’s Garden Center and Landscape Design Studio will remain on-site, serving as the welcoming front door to this new district and continuing to offer the expert service and distinctive products that have made the company a destination for generations.
“We’ve always been committed to staying in Middleton,” said Seth Nicholson. “It’s our home—and we look forward to helping shape its future as we develop our own.”
