Articles

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Valentine’s Day — not just roses!

Since Valentine's Day is the third-largest holiday in dollar volume for live goods, after Christmas and Mother's Day, respectively, you should take advantage.According to the Society of American Florists (SAF), of the flowers purchased for... more »

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A Call to Action

I'm writing this column as I sit in a hotel room in Washington, D.C., attending the 1st Annual America in Bloom (AIB) Symposium. In addition to the excellent educational seminars, this is a celebration for... more »

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Simply Sequencing

Increasing sales and reducing labor are two topics that you seldom expect to find on the same page, let alone in the same paragraph. Yet if you sequence, you can expect to see higher sales... more »

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Lawn & Garden Retailer Headlines

DIY introduces new programming for gardeners The Do It Yourself Network (DIY), sister station of HGTV, will be heading up a new television program in January entitled "Weekend Gardening." Writer and designer Maureen Gilmer has... more »

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Get retail ready!

At this year's AHMA Hardware Show, to be held in Chicago April 18-20, Lawn & Garden Retailer will be sponsoring an experimental venue designed exclusively for independent garden centers. The Garden Center of the Future... more »

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A New Demographic

I receive an unbelievable number of trade magazines. My best estimate is that I receive somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 trade magazines per month, spanning everything from retail displays to horticulture journals to magazine... more »

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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... more »

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LAWN & GARDEN RETAILER HEADLINES

The Perennial Plant Association has named Athyrium niponicum 'Pictum' the 2004 Perennial Plant of the Year. This low-maintenance Japanese painted fern is a showy fern for shade gardens. It is popular because of its hardiness... more »

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Big is back

Even the most successful businesses lose something if they fail to stay fresh and keep up with trends. So what does it take for lawn and garden retailers to stay on top? Although high on... more »

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Easy Does It

We all have busy lives and not a lot of time to do the things we enjoy. Have you noticed recently that gardening is becoming one of those things? Customers want a garden, and they... more »

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Loyalty Programs

They're popular in grocery stores and other retail outlets, but loyalty and frequent shopper programs are gaining recognition within the garden center industry. Just like the name implies, that group of loyal and frequent shoppers... more »

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Fuzzy math . . .

Over the past few years we've seen an emphasis, no, more like a religious-like crusade, to focus on lower costs to achieve lower retails so that some retailers can claim that they are the lowest... more »