Articles

10132

How Population Affects Bedding Plant Sales

The more you know about your customers, the better you can connect with them and understand their needs. There are some publicly available characteristics about people in your market area (income, home value, education) that... more »

10132

Braving the California Coast

Hopefully, one of your resolutions is to stay abreast of the happenings within the industry. There's no better way to stay on top of the new varieties than to visit the California Pack Trials. This... more »

10132

Branding: What do the Numbers Say? Part II

Last month's article laid some foundation on the basics of branding. In that article, we defined branding, compared it to product promotions and outlined some key elements of what works and what doesn't when branding... more »

10132

Mosquito vs. Mosquito Fish

Richard Paxton's book The Hot Zone proved that virtually any organism on earth is within a jet ride from our own front door. Be it the invisible Ebola Virus, Mediterranean fruit fly or Russian tumbleweeds,... more »

10139

The Urge To Splurge

There's a new book out that offers independent garden centers a real ray of hope for 2004, provided they truly understand the consumer dynamics that are building and then make the conscious decision to take... more »

10139

Nursery Market Profitability

Today's nursery stock buyer needs to be concerned with more than just finding the right grower, the right price and the right plants. Sure, quality still counts, but if you want to enter the world... more »

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Turning Angry Customers Into Loyal Happy Customers

No matter what you do for your customers, there are always those who are cranky and demanding, believing that silly phrase, "the customer is always right." They even try to throw that phrase in when... more »

10139

Branding: Here We Go Again, Part I

Say the word "branding" to any group of L&G executives, and you are likely to get some sighs, rolled eyes and under-the-breath utterances of "Here we go again." In addition to being oft maligned, it... more »

10139

This & That

After being on break for several months, I had too many things on my mind to focus on one topic, so I decided on a little bit of everything for this month's column. Resolutions I... more »

10139

Work the Product

The fate of your garden décor inventory may rest on how much you adhere to those familiar lyrics by The Byrds: "To every thing, turn, turn, turn. There is a season, turn, turn, turn." Retailer... more »

10139

Who is your Customer?

Just as important as opening your eyes to the image your business creates is focusing on who your customer is. You can be making great impressions, but if the wrong audience is noticing, it won't... more »

10139

Putting Trees in the Limelight

Over the last 10 years, garden centers have become more sophisticated in their approach to selling, merchandising and displaying in many areas of the store. We build new greenhouses for annuals and perennials, new stores... more »