Holiday Cheer
It’s August and that means it is time to start decorating the store for the winter holiday season. Do you have it all planned out? Is all of your merchandise in and ready to come out of storage? Do you have the greenery and cut trees ordered? Are the poinsettias already in production? Are you sick of me asking all of these stressful questions?
The holiday season is becoming increasingly stressful each year, and retailers tell me time and again how much more they are feeling it. So I ask, “Then why do it?” The response is always along the lines of, “It is a tradition. My customers count on me to have all of that holiday cheer in my store. I can’t disappoint them.” Talk about the Christmas spirit.
The holiday season is a tough time of year for garden center retailers. Everyone knows you don’t make as much money during the season, but you really do make customers happy. During the Garden Centers of America Holiday Tours, I always ask customers why they choose the stores where they shop. A lot of them say that their parents shopped there and loved it so they want to continue the tradition. Others say it is because the garden centers make them feel so welcome and at home with all of the holiday décor and events they hold throughout the season.
Ladies and gentlemen, that is your reason right there. If you ever had any doubts as to why you do it, it comes from the mouths of the customers. Yes, you can’t be in the retail business just to make people feel good. Warm and fuzzies are not going to send your kids to college. But you have to admit that the look on the faces and the huge smiles of those customers as they walk through the store is what gets rid of your inner Scrooge and gets you ready to spread some holiday cheer yourself. Happy Holidays!
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