Articles

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Lawn & Garden Retailer Headlines

From OFA to YOUPlan Now to Attend The OFA Short Course By Kathy Benken, OFA President Mark your calendar now — OFA Short Course registration and hotel reservations will open April 25. This is a... more »

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Who Are Your Einsteins?

I was recently working with a garden center owner on a strategic repositioning. Since it was his fiscal year end, he was in the process of giving annual performance reviews to employees, and he asked... more »

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Adding the Feminine Touch

Within the past several years, green industry experts have been drilling it into your heads that your main customers are women, and you need to cater to them specifically because they are the main purchasers... more »

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Hands-on For Happier Customers

A few months ago a couple of my friends and I went to a cooking class at a local gourmet retail shop. We decided to pick a night when the retailer was presenting a type... more »

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Budding Markets

The amount of leisure time people spend gardening has been steadily declining since 1999, but household participation in the lawn and garden market is at an all-time high. "How can this be?" you might be... more »

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Samurai Selling

The Orient Express has arrived, and it's headed straight to the garden center! Consumers are turning east and replacing color and complexity with subtlety and sand. Maybe it's the low maintenance and low water usage... more »

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An Aquatic Plant Primer

Water gardening is one of the fastest-growing sectors of the gardening industry. Retail statistics compiled by the National Gardening Association show the sector growing at nearly 20 percent annually. Among the many opportunities this surging... more »

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Hummingbird Heaven

I used to think hummingbirds were peaceful jewels of the garden, much like gentle butterflies that flit flower to flower. I was in for a rude awakening the year my patch of native California fuchsia... more »

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Accessibility for All

February 2005, Hecht's and Lord & Taylor department stores agreed to make their stores accessible for disabled shoppers by providing wider pathways between clothing racks, lower cash registers and wider fitting rooms. Wasn't that nice... more »

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Looking for Linens

The linen market is like no other we have covered thus far in "Developing Markets." For this one, there should be a sign that reads "Caution: Use baby steps." The reason I say baby steps... more »

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Boost Profits with Trial Gardens

Trial gardens are located in every state and many counties and re-main one of the most underused tools of our industry, mostly because of their passive nature. These wells of information come and go, and... more »

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Free Samples

Everyone loves free samples; admit it, we all travel the trade shows and walk booth-to-booth looking for all the free stuff our bags can hold. However, we are not the only people that love to... more »