There was little hint Saturday at metro Atlanta stores and gardening events that Pike Family Nurseries was on the verge of disappearing from Georgia —- that everything the retailer and wholesaler owned will be auctioned Tuesday, and the business could have a new name.

"They're not liquidating [stock]," Laura Rogers of Sandy Springs said as she loaded her truck with azaleas, camellias, ferns and mulch at an east Cobb County store. "I already asked."

Customers —- some relatively new, and others, lifelong —- were not surprised that the 50-year-old Norcross-based company had failed as the state suffers a historic drought.

As homeowners watched their gardens die without rain, it made sense that business at nurseries also would dry up: No sense planting if there's no rain and watering is restricted.

"The drought has hurt [Pike] drastically. But they also hurt themselves," said Allen Rogers of Decatur.

Rogers, who was attending a home and garden show at the Cobb Galleria, said merchandise quality and service declined in recent months.

"I'm hoping, with the auction, they will come up with newer ideas," he said. "You could tell they were selling the same petunias, the same marigolds, as everyone else."

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, blaming the drought. On Friday, Pike announced it was going on the auction block.

At least five companies plan to bid for Pike in Tuesday's private auction. Though the names of those businesses were not released, Pike's bankruptcy attorney said most see acquiring the chain's properties as their entry into the Atlanta market.

East Cobb gardener Eileen McDermott said she had been "wondering how long it was going to take" before Pike ran into financial trouble it could not overcome.

"I like Pike because I felt the people who worked there had a certain expertise," McDermott said. "They could tell you what to plant, where to plant it, when to prune it and what to feed it. I just can't imagine life without Pike nursery."

Karen Christanell of Duluth compared the impact of the drought on Pike to a "sucker punch."

"You always expect them to be there," she said. "I was surprised they weren't able to resuscitate themselves."

Chris Montesinos of East Point said he will just shop somewhere else.

"It's a free-market economy," he said. "I'll go where the stuff is available."