Home Depot Steps Up Garden Center With Plant Award
With all of the work Home Depot has been doing in the past few years, the home improvement chain has decide to add one more issue to the independent garden center (IGC) table by recently awarding The Home Depot 2006 Product Innovation Award to the VIVA! SunPatiens program.
Home Depot has been pushing to get more of its garden center staff nursery state certified, and the company has been working hard to get more POP and different programs into stores. So why should retailers be paying attention to this award? There are a few reasons. VIVA! is a national brand that people recognize, though you may not carry it, it may bring people in your store looking for something similar, and we know you can supply that.
It also brings more public light to the green industry. This program was chosen over a number of other different companies in the home improvement industry. Maybe, just maybe, this may help consumers take a second look when it is time to add some more plants to their homes and come to you for advice.
Though this is a great honor for VIVA!, what does that mean for the IGC? Home Depot has made it clear that plant materials are a very important part of its business model, and the company is working hard to let that be known. However, just because you are an IGC doesn’t mean there isn’t room for you as well. It just means you have to keep that niche, keep the quality materials, offer great customer service and stay on top of the trends and merchandising techniques. That way awards like this show the world that plants are what people need to buy and you can help supply them.
The VIVA! brand is brought to market by Floragem, a marketing company comprised of growers and horticultural professionals. VIVA! beat out major consumer product manufacturers such as Glidden Paint, The Scotts Co. and John Deere.
VIVA! SunPatiens are a new style of impatiens bred by Sakata Seed America and grown by the Ecke Ranch and introduced exclusively in more than 1,700 stores during spring and summer 2006. These vigorous landscape-style impatiens thrive in full sun and high heat that set back common impatiens. There were four colors initially introduced through Home Depot while two more are in line for 2007.
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