Garden Site to Fold

Garden.com Inc., an online retailer of gardening products, said that it will shut down its retail operations and plans to sell its consumer business assets after it failed to secure financing to fund operations or find a buyer for the company. The Austin, Texas-based company, the latest victim in the shakeout in the online retail sector, also said it plans a “phased layoff” of its consumer business employees. The company cut 30% of its work force Sept. 28. At that time, Garden.com said it hired investment bank Robertson Stephens to evaluate strategic alternatives. The closure comes just over a year after the company’s initial public offering. Garden.com plunged 16 cents to close at 9 cents on Nasdaq. Its 52-week high was $15 a share at the end of 1999.