What’s In Store?
I’ll begin by stating the obvious: 2008 was rough. “Gloom and doom” was the new world order. You dealt with rising shipping costs and slowed overall retail traffic, and you had to work constantly at convincing even your best customers that the products you sell are necessary, not discretionary. So what can we expect for the coming year? More of the same, or a whole new game? Susan Reda, executive editor of the National Retail Federation’s STORES magazine, had these thoughts to offer in her December column:
“Shoppers will have a different outlook for 2009. The free-wheeling approach to spending is a thing of the past.
“There’s a movement taking root that can best be defined as ‘cheap is cool.’ Shoppers feel guilty about wearing pricey suits or expensive shoes so they’re making tradeoffs and opting for lower-price versions. That’s all good as long as they keep spending. The one thing no one wants is for shoppers to zip their purses shut and tuck their cash under a mattress.
“Shoppers’ memory of an experience… becomes the product; their recollection of the shopping experience lingers far longer and has far greater impact than the good feelings linked to a specific purchase.”
Sounds promising to me: Garden centers like yours are already integral parts of the community, offering the kinds of shopping experience that makes people want to keep visiting your store, not the big boxes. And you are in the business of selling lifestyles. It’s not about the products; it’s about the feeling customers get when they shop with you and the memories they create when they get their purchases home.
Hear from Your Peers
In our annual industry forecast, “Embarking on an Uphill Climb” (page 20), five leaders in the retail and horticultural industry have shared their thoughts with us on what’s to come in the next 12 months. There’s a lot of overlap in what they’ve said which tells me the industry as a whole is really starting to get on track with understanding what needs to be done to stay afloat in this economy but I’d like to highlight some points made by one of your own: our most recent Merchandiser of the Year, Teri Smith of Smith’s Acres in Niantic, Conn. She says to pay attention to trends, stress value over low price, teach employees to upsell, maintain a positive outlook at all times and keep up with the latest technology because if you won’t, someone else will.
On the Horizon
A sharper focus on technology specifically, some of the tools you might consider to really rocket your garden center into the 21st century is just one of the things we’re planning at Lawn & Garden Retailer for this year. A five-part tech series that expands on last year’s Web 101 stories will kick off next month. Also in our next issue, we’re debuting a monthly “green goods” page that spotlights a plant category you may want to consider for your customers. We’ll also be announcing the winner of this year’s Merchandiser of the Year award, and our Christmas Retailer supplement will include a photo recap of the Garden Centers of America 2008 Holiday Tour. So expect an issue packed full of new ideas and this is just the beginning! Got feedback or something you’d like to see in the magazine? Send me an e-mail, give me a call or catch me at one of this year’s industry events.
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