All About Us
Our history, vision and future...

plan for his new company. Dragon Gardens began upon the Paulson’s relocation to Lake Oswego, Oregon in 1999. Walter and Ann Liew have continued to be a valuable resource for sage advice and inspiration to Eric. After leaving Hawaii and his sports medicine career, Eric Paulson used his Liberal arts degree from Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, WA to help develop Dragon Gardens.

Dragon Gardens Northwest's facilities are located in the near the core of Portland, in the industrial neighborhood of Swan Island (located 3 minutes and 3 turns from I-5...) Our 10,000 square foot warehouse is nested within the Portland Flower Market (Wholesale Only), a 120,000 square foot facility open to trade professionals and members, serving Portland's floral and design industry.

It took Dragon Gardens three years to find its way to the Portland Flower Market, where it has called home now, for seven years. During this journey from Waimanalo, Hawaii to Portland, Oregon, Dragon Gardens has grown because Eric’s vision of a stable supply chain with high-value, ceramics for the home and garden.

Once we had the supply chain was stabilized, we realized that we needed help. In 2003, Kelly Leffingwell joined the Dragon Gardens team bringing a much needed sense of organization and tidiness to the warehouse. Kelly now manages the inside sales at the warehouse while Eric concentrates on purchasing and outside sales programs including the Pallet Plus+ program and FCL Direct program. 

Heidi (Eric's wife, and a PLU Alumni) is now managing the accounting responsibilities for the company, when she is not working in the ICU at OHSU. Eric’s mother, Sylvia (also a PLU alum) continues to provide amazing support and advice. 

Eric's father, Jon (another Lute alumni) has taken a more active role recently to help design products and develop systems within Dragon Gardens. The value of his and his experience as a ceramic artist and art history/ ceramics university professor for the past 35+ years has helped Dragon Gardens to “dial in” our Asian factories efficiencies and production quality.

In 2006, Randy Sholes joined the sales force at Dragon Gardens and in 2008, we were fortunate enough to employ the sales services of Audrey Monroe. All of these people have had a significant impact in our development and we thank them all.

We spent 2000-2002 learning the industry, since Eric had very little wholesale distribution experience, coming from the medical/ healthcare arena. At the end of 2003, we severed our ties with a California based pottery importer as their local rep, and became an independent, direct importer. That year Vietnam earned favored nation status for trade with USA and we focused on their products for our market. In the fall of 2004, Eric traveled to China for the first time, to harvest factory relations in rural China. In the tens of trips since that first trip, Eric has developed a solid core of factories to provide our customers with the wholesale products they want at the prices they can afford.

In 2006, with the help of Randy Sholes, we began developing sales programs to serve our different customer demographics. Eric was able to see that the wholesale industry was shifting from a traditional “load-up-the warehouse-and-sell-it-off” to the Dell model of “just-in-time-inventory.”

Our Pallet Plus+ program falls somewhere in between these two models, offering more competitive prices, with expanded choices and sales support to small to large independent garden center customers, while allowing Dragon Gardens NW to forecast sales more effectively. 

Our FCL Direct program serves large independent garden centers, wanting looking for a “partner” to import their products from China directly. This program is not limited to pottery. We offer stone décor and construction products, lighting, garden supplies, construction material and even apparel and sales collateral.

Outside of Dragon Gardens, Eric enjoys raising his children, coaching them in baseball, basketball and soccer, then taking what little time is left after his business and family to continue to hone his bonsai skills, shoot some baskets and lose some golf balls. Kelly continues to read and write fiction, poetry and handicap the ponies.

We have learned a great deal from the wonderful people we have met along this journey and look forward to the opportunity to apply this knowledge and experience in serving you and your business, striving to make each purchase with us, simple, convenient and profitable for you.

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