Decorating the Christmas Season
Christmas has come and gone, and people are now on their way to planning an exciting spring. But just because Christmas is over doesn’t mean it should be forgotten. We talked to some garden centers across the country and got numerous responses on how this year was great for some and just ok for others in all different categories. Some people said consumers were looking for outdoor décor, such as lights and blow-up characters that were around every corner. The debate seemed to come into play this year as to whether consumers wanted live goods or artificial.
Reports started coming in at the end of October on how Christmas was supposed to be a winner for 2003, and they were not far off. With poor Christmas sales the past several years, the U.S. economy needed a good year. People wanted to spend more time at home during the holidays, and with that comes the decorating. Here are some garden center responses on the 2003 Christmas season.
What were some of the most popular selling items for the 2003 Christmas season?
“We sold about 110-115 artificial Christmas trees that were all different sizes. We also sold a greater number of ornaments than in the past, and we don’t have the typical, popular ornaments that other stores carry.” Barb Baudendistel, retail manager of Berns Garden Center, Middletown, Ohio.
“Outdoor decorations, yard décor, as well as prelit artificial trees did really well for us. One area that was very strong was fancy greens — the evergreen that come from the Northwest; we had displays of door fronts with a wreath and garland as well as pots with greens. Ornaments were weak because most people already have enough, so they are making more selective purchases than in previous years.” Alfred Hicks president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
“People wanted us to design, both live and artificial, decorative wreaths for their doors and mantles. That was a significant amount of money, and our designers did a tremendous job. Themed ornaments did really well; our horses/horseback riding tree was a hit, as was our sports-themed tree. Colored-themed trees, a particular color theme was not a big seller. We also sold NCAA merchandise, anything we had that had an NCAA logo on it that was Christmas related was just huge. That was probably the most exciting new product category. It did well enough that we are picking it up as a year-round item in our gift area.” Joe Stoffregen, president of Homewood Nursery, Raleigh, N.C.
“We actually have a Danish Kringle pastry because Danish heritage here is a big deal with Molbaks. Basically the Kringle and the poinsettia did the best for us this year. Department 56 was still strong for us, as well as everlasting trees.” Steve Leigh, senior vice-president of Molbaks, Woodinville, Wash.
“Both live and artificial garland sold out quicker than in the past. In those two categories we bought up 5-10 percent, and we sold out earlier. I think the live garlands went well because the number of cut tree sales were down and artificial tree sales were up. After talking to a few people, I think that since artificial trees have been popular, people wanted some greenery for something live in their house. I added 9- to 10-percent since last year, and sold out of the garland about December 7, and we couldn’t get anymore. It’s fits into the premise of the cut trees.” Mitch Mayes, owner/vice-president of Louisiana Nursery, Baton Rouge, La.
What percent of your sales were live vs. hard?
25 percent live vs. 75 percent hard. Barb Baudendistel, retail manager of Berns Garden Center, Middletown, Ohio.
40 percent live vs. 60 percent hard. Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
65 percent live vs. 35 percent hard. Joe Stoffregen, president of Homewood Nursery, Raleigh, N.C.
50 percent live vs. 50 percent hard. Steve Leigh, senior vice-president of Molbaks, Woodinville, Wash.
40 percent live vs. 60 percent hard. Mitch Mayes, owner/vice-president of Louisiana Nursery, Baton Rouge, La.
What surprised you the most about the 2003 Christmas season?
“The live greenery left over this year compared to what we had last year. People didn’t really do a lot of decorating with live goods this year. They used a lot of lights and the blow-up Santa’s and Grinch’s in their yards. We didn’t see a lot of roping and wreaths outside like we usually do.” Barb Baudendistel, retail manager of Berns Garden Center, Middletown, Ohio.
“The weather. The Northeast was hit by a bad blizzard December 6 and 7, so that knocked out the biggest cut tree weekend. The next week was strong, and then the following weekend we had another blizzard on Sunday. But, that Saturday was very strong because people knew the snow was coming the next day. Unfortunately, one day doesn’t make a season. It was very difficult, as the weather changed the dynamics of the season.” Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
“The 10- to 11-percent dip in cut trees sales and units sold. We have been selling cut trees for 20 years, and the numbers for the last 12-14 years have been about a 3-percent difference. This year we sold about 1,000 less trees for the first time in about 15 years, so that definitely surprised me.” Mitch Mayes, owner/vice-president of Louisiana Nursery, Baton Rouge, La.
Which poinsettia sizes/varieties did the best for you?
“We had 20-plus varieties, but red is always the most popular. The novelties were very strong, as well as all the different shades of red and pink. ‘Cortez Burgundy’ was also very strong. The best size was about a 7-inch. Poinsettias are becoming an increasingly hard sell because of the price points from the big boxes.” Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
“The most popular one was 8-inch ‘Peter Star Red’. Regarding sales, 61/2 inch poinsettias were still the big category, but the demand for 8-inch pots was really good, and of course there is a better retail price on the larger size. Á ‘Sonora White Glitter’ was very strong as well as Cortez Burgundy; the only problem with Cortez is the instability and a lot turned out to be ‘Sonora Red’.” Joe Stoffregen, president of Homewood Nursery, Raleigh, N.C.
“The larger sizes — 7- to 8-inch or above — did the best for us because they can’t get the larger sizes at a chain store. The smaller poinsettia sales are down, and that is the second year in a row for us; but we still sell a lot of the 61/2 poinsettias. Traditional red was the best. In the last week or so we barely had a red left. It seemed to rule more than usual this year.” Mitch Mayes, owner/vice-president of Louisiana Nursery, Baton Rouge, La.
What kinds of promotional/marketing strategies did you do for the season?
“We had sales on different sizes of poinsettias every week. The hanging baskets were marked down from $29.99 to $19.99. We gave $5 off a cut tree during open house weekend, and we had a guitar player.” Barb Baudendistel, retail manager of Berns Garden Center, Middletown, Ohio.
“We ran newspaper ads, held a lot of events, showcased reindeer and sent a circular. We also had TV stations here several times. Santa Clause and the reindeer drew in the kids. We had special sales that were just for our Gardeners Advantage members that were promoted just to them; they received a double discount on items, which we hoped would strengthen the relationship with repeat customers.” Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
“A part of our success is that we advertise very strongly during the Christmas season. I went into it saying that we’re going to have a good Christmas, and we are going to do everything we can on our end to assure it. We advertised on television, worked our local media and got a very nice article out of the newspaper about our poinsettias, which gave us some nice free press right in the middle of the busiest part of the season. We started out the season with a poinsettia open house, inviting people to come and see the new varieties. We also set up 3-4 decorated areas for photo shoots for people to take for their Christmas cards photos; that has been very successful. We mailed out a poinsettia postcard worth $20 to new homeowners in the area; they brought that in and got $20 worth of merchandise, and we found that they spent far more than that. We had a 10-percent return, which is really good for postcards. We were trying attract folks in the area who had no idea we sold plants.” Joe Stoffregen, president of Homewood Nursery, Raleigh, N.C.
“We have our holiday preview party, which starts the day before our Poinsettia Festival. We open up at night and provide food, beverages, live music, vendors and artists. The Poinsettia Festival lasts one month; we serve complimentary Kringle and coffee and have live music throughout the store; Santa comes in for one weekend, and we provide many photo opportunities throughout the store. We have a 10-foot-high poinsettia tree that is very historical, and people like to take their picture in front of it.” Steve Leigh, senior vice-president of Molbaks, Woodinville, Wash.
“One of the big things we do from fall to Christmas is showplace bucks, a buyers card that gets punched with every $10 purchase. Then we have three different weekends — two before Christmas and one after — when they can bring them in for discounts off their purchases. It’s a way to bring people back into the store for Christmas, especially the better customers. We also hold three open houses early in the season to bring people in. Mitch Mayes, owner/vice-president of Louisiana Nursery, Baton Rouge, La.
Overall how was the 2003 Christmas season for you?
“We managed to come up with a small increase for the month, so we were happy about that, considering the weather. I’d have to say when it was all over and done, we were a bit disappointed because we had a little more merchandise left over than we normally do and that was because of the weather.” Alfred Hicks, president of Hicks Nurseries, Inc. Westbury, N.Y.
“It was an exceptionally good Christmas season — the best ever. We really felt like we would have a strong Christmas season but what we ended up with was much better than what we had anticipated. Christmas is a fairly significant part of our year, so to get that kind of growth was staggering almost. We didn’t have really bad weather, and we had a particular good demand for green goods; we had one of our best sell through and the best growth on our poinsettias. We exceeded all expectations. Joe Stoffregen, president of Homewood Nursery, Raleigh, N.C.
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