Greetings!
As you might have already heard in last month’s issue, I recently joined Lawn & Garden Retailer as the new managing editor. With more than 20 years of trade magazine editing experience, I am really excited to be joining the horticulture industry.
In fact, I just returned from my very first garden center tour, the Garden Centers of America 2019 Summer Tour, which took place June 23-26 in sunny (and humid!) Nashville. (Read my article about it here!) While I was there, I met a lot of great people, saw some amazing independent garden center displays and got to listen to — and take part in — many interesting conversations. From dealing with supplier issues to sharing tips and ideas for retaining employees to celebrating multiple decades in business, I learned that garden center representatives everywhere are eager to share not only their success stories but also solutions and ideas to address troublesome issues that come up with running a business.
And not only were they more than willing to share, but they also didn’t mind my multiple newbie questions about how to or why to grow certain plants, running a garden center business or other questions or curiosities that popped into my brain during the event.
I had a lot of fun exploring the garden centers in and around Nashville and taking photos of what I saw. You can see some of my photos here. Also, be sure to check out the Inspiration Book online, where I’ve uploaded scads more photos!
Let’s Connect
I’m looking forward to more tours and industry events and meeting more of you. Please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] or at 616.520.2163 with any story ideas or industry- or business-specific issues you’d like to see covered in the magazine in the future. Is your business celebrating an anniversary or expanding? Does your garden center put on a noteworthy event that other garden centers need to know about? If so, we just might want to talk to you for our Event Central page. Did you find a solution to a problem that you think other independent garden centers could benefit from? Let me know! After all, we’re here to help you — our readers — to succeed in your business.
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