Mar 4, 2015
New Speakers, New Tracks, New Sessions Announced at IGC Shows

IGC Show officials have announced this summer's roster for the IGC Retail Conference at IGC East and IGC Chicago.

IGC Show officials have announced this summer’s roster for the IGC Retail Conference at IGC East and IGC Chicago. The retail education program will offer attendees 30-plus hours of instruction in five focused tracks on the retail issues that matter most to the success of their independent garden center businesses.

This summer’s all-new tracks and all-new sessions deliver strategies on customer service, merchandising, advertising, marketing, signage, social media, branding, store design, landscape, inventory, sales in-store and online, POS, family biz plans, buying, ROI and more. Attendees are encouraged to bring their toughest questions for real-world solutions that will make their retail businesses stronger now and in the years to come.

The IGC Retail Conference’s five tracks and the sessions in each are:

"Fine-Tuning Your Store’s Finances: The Changes You Make Today Will Deliver More Dollars to Your Bottom Line" with Steve Bailey

Now is the time to get your store’s finances in exact order. The more you "button up" early, the more the numbers will work in your garden center’s favor later on. Planning is everything – and it starts with a crystal clear understanding of your current financial situation. This track will get you there, as you determine where your garden center business is now and then move forward to where you can take it. It will make the difference in your bottom line – now and in the years to come.

Sessions:

"Your Financial Reality Check Starts Here: Let’s Look at Your Store’s ‘Real’ Dollars"
"Simplifying Your Profit & Loss Statement to Manage It More Efficiently"
"Benchmarking Your Store’s Key Performance Ratios"
"Garden Center Budgets That Make Good Sense"
"Money When You Need It – Now & At Retirement"
"Putting Together the Total Package for Your Store’s Financial Success"

"Adding the Landscape Dept.: Cashing In On ‘Do It For Me’ Consumers" with Susan Cohan

Now is the time for the Landscape Department at your store. IGCs are presented with a unique opportunity right now to ramp up profits, thanks to the surge of today’s time-pressed, project-weary "Do It For Me" consumers. These customers want all the benefits of a beautiful landscape and yard without the effort of doing it themselves from step one. These money-spending consumers won’t get the help they seek from Home Depot – there is no in-store landscape department at the boxes. Landscape is your edge! Established IGCs that closed their landscape departments years ago are reopening the doors to profit by bringing them back, and garden centers across the country are starting landscape departments fresh. From full-service design/build to in-store garden design, here’s what you need to know to stake your claim from this mega-trend that is already here.

Sessions:

"Setting Up a Money-Making Landscape Department @ Your IGC"
"In-Store Landscape Design Strategies that Create Lifelong Retail Customers"
"Working with Independent Designers & Architects to Create a Secondary Revenue Stream for Your Store"
"Make Your Garden Center the Local ‘Go To’ Landscape Resource in Your Market"
"Design/Build vs. Design Only vs. Garden Coaching"
"Think Like a Designer Boutique … Not Home Depot!"

"Your Family Garden Center Biz: What It Takes to Make It Happy, Harmonious & Profitable" with Henry Hutcheson

Ah, the joys of your family garden center business. And then, there are the challenges. This targeted track will help you navigate the conflict and transitional issues that frequently come up. Why is family business, at times, so difficult? Because family is about unconditional love, and your garden center business is about profit – these two goals do not always align. Discover the tried-and-true best practices of successful family businesses, and the hidden secrets garden centers are using to win daily and big-picture operational challenges. Take back a plan that includes a map of succession alternatives for your store and ways to build family harmony.

Sessions:

"Top 10 Family Biz Best Practices: Putting Them to Work for Your Store"
"Financial Discipline: Charting a Profitable Course for Your Garden Center’s Future"
"’Is It Time to Sell the Store?’ The Tough Question You Need to Answer"
"’What’s Next?’ When It’s Time to Turn It Over to the Next Generation"
"Is the Next Generation Ready to Lead Your Garden Center Business?"
"I Am the Next Generation: What Should I Do Now to Prepare for Ownership?"

"Keep Calm and Sell On! Taking the Fear Out of Bringing Your Store Online" with Kyle Lacy

Everything you need to know to start selling online is here – packaged neatly in an easy-to-understand series of sessions that will help bring your garden center into the exciting world of e-commerce. Selling products and services online is more simple and straightforward than ever before, thanks to new turnkey packages and solutions for stores just like yours. And the potential for profit is big – think the busy mom who picks out her spring annuals at your website, pays for them with a quick click, then smiles as your staff loads them into her minivan the minute she pulls up. Watch as she spreads the word to all her friends about how quick and convenient it was to get everything she needs from your store.

Sessions:

"Setting Up an Online Store: You Can Do It & You Must Do It – Here’s Why"
"Get Started! Setting Up Your Website for Online Shopping – Part 1"
"Here We Go! Setting Up Your Website for Online Shopping – Part 2"
"The Beginner’s Guide To Google Analytics – What You Need to Know"
"Building Your Garden Center’s Online Sales Strategy"
"Generate Buzz for Your Biz! Using Social Media to Market Your Online Store"

"Let’s Talk Store Design & Displays: Nailing the Details Will Make the Difference!" with Judy Sharpton

Retailers across all channels are raising the bar, turning the focus on revamping the shopping experience at their stores to capture today’s fickle consumer. There is a new standard independent garden centers are faced with living up to – think Crate and Barrel, Apple, IKEA and other modern retailers. Every detail about your store is crucial – from the streetside to your front door, inside your greenhouses to the back of your gift shop, then into the world of marketing your garden center online.

Sessions: