What a week!
I’ve just returned from The Garden Center Show, where garden center professionals from the U.S., South America and even the UK were registered to walk the trade show floor and attend keynotes and conference sessions over the two-day event. The positive vibe on the show floor was energizing, with IGC pros and supplier companies making new connections and planning strategies for success.
The day before the show, we hosted a full-day garden center tour, visiting four spectacular and inspiring Chicagoland IGCs, with a stop at The Gardens at Ball for lunch. Our thanks again to Ball for sponsoring the tour and graciously allowing nearly 150 of us to roam its nine acres of display beds of annuals, perennials, cut flowers and vegetables — including new varieties from industry-leading breeders and marketers.
I was honored to again present our second annual Innovator of the Year awards to this year’s honorees at the Networking Reception on Wednesday night. These awards are the result of many months of planning and sorting through entries to identify the most innovative IGCs in the U.S. Congrats again to all the winners! And thank you to Dramm and West of the Wind for sponsoring the awards!
We’re hard at work already planning for the 2025 Garden Center Show and would love to hear your feedback. What educational session topics are you interested in learning more about? Are there specific product categories you’d like to explore? Shoot me an email at [email protected] with your thoughts! And mark your calendar for the 2025 show, which is scheduled for Aug. 12-13 in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois.
Also in This Issue
Houseplants are a category whose popularity just keeps growing. Here, Abby D’Agostin, greenhouse manager at Village Green Home and Garden (a 2023 L&GR Innovator Award winner!) shares how her IGC became a one-stop shop for houseplants and supplies — and how other retailers can learn “how to houseplant.”
Bridget Behe shares her insights in the final installment of her Revamp Your Retail series this month, explaining how to leverage the power of consumer psychology to sell more green goods. My thanks again to Bridget for an inspiring and informative series of articles!
Videos
