January 2008
It’s A Girls’ World By Darhiana Mateo

A lively crowd of about 2,500 women (with a sprinkling of men) gathered at Mahoney’s Garden Centers’ Winchester, Mass., location one Wednesday evening in November. While admiring the garden center’s holiday decorations and displays, they also mingled, sipped wine, lusted after jewelry displays, munched on chocolates and other goodies, and pondered treating themselves to a spa day.

Some of the women, especially the younger ones, had never set foot in a garden center before attending Mahoney’s Ladies Night Out Christmas Open House. In addition to perusing displays of seasonal ornaments, hard-to-find decorations, efficient LED lights and premium prelit artificial Christmas trees, customers explored, tasted and sampled retail exhibits from 30 local vendors, including a high-end wine shop, bakery, jewelry store, chiropractic center, and salon and spa.

Not Your Mother’s Garden Center

One of the main goals of the event, which is now in its second year, was to draw younger, twenty- and thirty-something female shoppers who might not typically visit garden centers, says Lauri Mahoney, vice president of marketing. “We’re really struggling with getting the new and younger faces in here. There’s almost this image out there that the garden center is ‘where my mother used to shop, but it’s not for me,'” Mahoney says. “It’s something that we’re fighting. We really need to target them and get more creative in getting younger people to us. They are our future.”

Some garden centers like Mahoney’s are trying to fight this perception by hosting “Girls Night Out” events, which are become increasingly popular in other industries, and giving both loyal and potential customers a new reason to spend their hard-earned cash in the garden center. The events, ranging from simple to lavish, attempt to cater to women’s needs in a fun, feminine environment. And they don’t always center around gardening. In fact, by branching out and offering different treats for customers, such as wine tasting or jewelry displays, garden centers hope to draw a more diverse clientele to their door.

Once they walk in, says Mahoney, it’s up to you to make an impression and give them a reason to return. The important thing is to get the “traffic through” and motivate those new faces to return. The two past Ladies Night Out Christmas Open Houses have been a “huge success” for the garden center, she says, so much so that they have rolled out the event to two other locations in Massachusetts, and plans are under way to make the open house an annual staple. “Absolutely,” Mahoney says. “There is no question that we’ll definitely do it again next year.”

Many industries have launched Girls Night Out events aimed at engaging and fostering a relationship with the coveted female consumer base; boosting sales and traffic in the meantime. In the world of garden centers, female shoppers have always been the dominant consumers, but by hosting these events, garden centers can reach a more diverse group of women, including younger women who may lack experience or interest in gardening, as well as “nongardener” types who, for whatever reason, never really got in touch with their inner green-thumb diva. The interest among garden center circles has definitely piqued in recent years. Mahoney says there is “a lot of talk” going around about the benefits of hosting these events, and she’s had plenty of inquiries about how successful these events have been at Mahoney’s.

The Appeal

At Dickman Farms Greenhouse and Garden Center in Auburn, N.Y., Girls Night Out events are nothing new. The garden center has been organizing “informal” workshops and demonstrations targeting women for several years, says General Manager Kathy Bardwell. Their most recent event, called Girls Day Out, took place on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The premise of the free event was to teach attendees how to create different holiday decorations, such as an evergreen centerpiece, porch pot, kissing ball or door swag. Guests could also purchase a prepackaged kit, containing everything they would need — from embellishments to instructions — to recreate the item at home. As an added incentive, a local restaurant treated guests to hors-d’oeuvres.

Most of Dickman Farms’ Girls Night Out events have an educational spin, in addition to being entertaining, says Bardwell: “It’s something a little more fun that just might attract some folks to come in and see what’s going on.” The educational component makes it more appealing to women who are tentative about trying certain things or unsure how to go about it. “They tend to back away,” she says, “But if you’re right out there in front saying, ‘Come on in, we want to show you how to do it,'” it just might do the trick.

In the past, they’ve held container gardening demonstrations, which Bardwell says were very popular with customers. But they’re also brainstorming nongardening ideas, such as a fashion show, or offering manicures or facials one day at the garden center. “Garden centers don’t always just attract ‘true’ gardeners,” she says. “What can you do to entice new customers to come in? And you have to come up with things that keeps them coming back to you.”

Bardwell says it’s as simple as listening to your customers. “We ask, ‘What can we do for you? What would you like to see?’ You can’t just sit back and say [customers] are going to come in.”

The Payoff

For those garden centers that have invested the time, resources and energy into hosting Girls Night Out events, the payoffs stretch beyond an increase in sales — although that’s definitely a perk. Dickman Farms saw a 53-percent increase in sales on the day of their Thanksgiving weekend workshop, compared to the same day last year. Some of that increase is attributed to sales of the prepackaged kits. “It’s not a bad way to kick off the holiday season,” Bardwell says.

Lauri Mahoney stresses that the financial impact will not necessarily be evident in sales from the night of an event, although her garden center made $10,000 between 4 and 9 p.m. the day of their holiday open house. The real impact of drawing new customers can’t be directly quantified, she says. “A lot of those customers come back. I’ve seen an awful lot of faces in the past few weeks that I recognized who were here that particular night,” she says.

The real goal of the open house is to inspire customers with innovative decorations for their most sacred sanctuary — home, sweet home. Patience is key, Mahoney says: “It’s a type of buy that takes time. They are walking through, trying to get ideas of what they want to do in their own home.” Make the right impression, plant the right seeds, and the odds are that they will come back.

Besides the boost to your bottom line, making the effort to host Girls Night Out events can improve your garden center’s image; making you look fresh, friendly and creative to new and long-standing customers. The opportunity to mingle with customers without focusing on making a sale can also help you create a bond with your visitors, and that can lead to loyal repeat customers. “We are creating a relationship,” Bardwell says.

Partnering with Vendors

Hosting a special Girls Night Out event at your garden center will require a little money, time and creativity. But it doesn’t have to break your budget by any means. And when you consider the long-term payoffs of drawing new customers and keeping things fresh and exciting for your long-standing customers, the initial investments might seem more than worthwhile.

By partnering with vendors, Mahoney’s has managed to curb advertising costs. Among the 30 vendors that participated in November’s open house were The Spirited Gourmet (a high-end wine, cheese and gourmet store), Linda Preston Jewelry, The Swiss Baker, Katana Salon and Spa, and Bacci Chocolate Designs. The diverse group was carefully selected to appeal to women of all ages, backgrounds and tastes. As a prerequisite to display their goods at the open house, Mahoney’s asked each vendor to print out invitations a month before the event to hand out to their customers. “The whole objective was to tap into their customer base that doesn’t necessarily shop at Mahoney’s,” she says. “It absolutely brought in a lot of new customers.” The garden center also invited vendors from surrounding towns, not just the immediate area, to widen their reach as much as possible.

And the exposure goes both ways. With all the traffic the open house generated, many of the vendors also reported a boost in their own sales. Elena Benoit, owner of The Spirited Gourmet in downtown Winchester, has participated in the Mahoney’s Ladies Night Out open house both years. People have come in to her shop after sampling a wine they liked at the event. Signing on to the event made sense for the business owner, who sees it as a great marketing tool. “There are a lot of businesses out there. You need to remind them that you’re there and what you do,” she says. “I’m just pouring my wine, getting my name out there.”

The Mahoney’s facility is large enough to partner with such a large group of vendors, but smaller garden centers with tighter spaces can also benefit from a “smaller-scale” approach. Dickman Farms had a local restaurant cater hors-d’oeuvres to their holiday decorations event in November, adding a tasty incentive to lure customers.

Generating a Buzz

Girls Night Out events can add a personal stamp to your name and cement your reputation as community-minded, friendly and innovative. Kathy Wahl of Tewksbury, Mass., has been a loyal customer of Mahoney’s for more than a decade. Wahl loved the event. “The vendors were all very upbeat. The samples were delicious, especially the fruit dipped in chocolate.”

And the ambiance really struck a chord with Wahl, who says the colorful and festive decorations put her in the holiday spirit. Last year, Wahl says she brought along some friends who normally didn’t shop at Mahoney’s before, and they have since gone back.

Mixing It Up

The struggle to remain fresh, attract a new, diverse clientele and continue to satisfy the needs of your “regulars” requires some creative thinking. Investing in events that cater to your dominant consumer base while also appealing to nongardeners and the younger generation might be a great way to keep your garden center growing and your image exciting. As Bardwell recognizes, “you can’t be afraid to make changes.” So find out what your current customers are looking for and what might inspire potential customers to walk through your doors. Your future depends on it.

Darhiana Mateo

Darhiana Mateo is associate editor of Lawn & Garden Retailer magazine. She can be reached at [email protected] or (847) 391-1013.