Pohmer
I had a sign that read, “My Office is Not a Zoo!” mounted by the entrance to my office when I worked for many years in retail buying, merchandising and marketing. Most people thought this...
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In my 26 years of working in senior positions in retail for both big box and smaller entrepreneurial companies, and then 25 years of helping advise companies and organizations as a consultant (yes, I really...
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As you are about to embark on the most challenging months of your spring selling season, I tried to come up with something motivating and inspiring that could help cheer you on and I stumbled...
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As I was looking through the ads in Sunday’s paper (in January — too early for lawn and garden ads in the Minneapolis market), it got me thinking about a dilemma that always mystified me...
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The year 2020 brought us a whole new set of variables we hadn’t anticipated or planned for; this got me thinking about some inadequacies in our traditional planning processes. Historically, most business leaders have adopted...
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As I sat down to write this column in mid-November 2020 and thought about the 2021 season before us — with all of the challenges and opportunities that we’ll face — it was impossible not...
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Over the past two years, I’ve talked a lot about the critical importance of providing positive “experiences” to the customers in your stores — experiences that touch all of their senses and emotions that will...
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Spring 2020 could have been a total disaster for locally owned garden centers; all the external forces were lined up against us — and then what worked against almost every other independent retailer saved the day...
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Your brand is one of your most important and precious assets. It is synonymous with who and what your business is all about, it helps explain what sets you apart from your competition, and it...
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We keep hearing the term “value proposition” in the context of identifying and communicating the specific reasons why consumers should be buying our industry’s products at your store. This is especially important not only because...
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I think it’s safe to say that, in modern history, no individual or business has ever been subjected to such rapid change of almost unfathomable magnitude as we have experienced in the past few months...
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There are only a few ways to increase your sales: Increase your customer count by adding new customers, attempting to steal them away from your competitors or appealing to non-gardeners to participate in what you...
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