ANDERSON — Mums were at the top of Dan Miller’s priority list on Thursday.

The owner of the South Main Street Fruit Market and his family were moving a new shipment of the autumn-colored flowers to the market’s entrance for top visibility. It was part of the constant cycle of inventory that comes with running a business so dependent on the weather.

“This year everybody’s been late two weeks,” Miller, 59, said. “We had just a crappy spring. We’re on a roll now.”

His grandfather started the business in 1949, and Miller can remember pitching in as a kid long before the city of Anderson spread south to the market’s location near 53rd Street.

Over the past several decades, more and more business have sprouted on land once farmed by Miller’s family. The housing development behind the market was once a tomato field, he said.

“Ivy Tech was our onion field. Over by the business college, we milked cows,” Miller said.

For roughly six months a year, Miller and his wife, Kandie, spend up to 10 hours a day at the market, and when they’re at home they’re working on paperwork while keeping an eye on southern storms by watching the Weather Channel.

When the market closes for winter, the couple get a much deserved break.

“I clean the house that I ignored for six months.” Kandie said.

With summer now over, the Millers are entering a slower time. Dan is still coordinating shipments of tomatoes for Hoosier Amish farms and preparing for more shipments of mums and, soon, pumpkins.

For decades, the Millers stayed away from the flower business, but when Dan took over the market 12 years ago, customers requested more blooming products, and now flower buyers make a major contribution to the family’s bottom line.

The family isn’t letting that affect the quality of their produce. They say that’s what helps them compete with the supermarkets.

“We sell produce, so we have to be the best at what we do,” Miller said.