Pohmer

November/December 2015

Great Expectations

My wife and I just returned from another "once-in-a-lifetime" 23-day adventure starting in Switzerland, then an eight-day river cruise down the Rhine River through Germany and France, followed by a four-day stay in Amsterdam and... more »

July 2015

The Times They Are A-changin’

Bob Dylan had the right idea in the song with the above title from 1963. We can take some comfort in life and in business that there are some immutable principles or physical laws that... more »

June 2015

The World Your Customer Lives In

Often, we get too close to our businesses to truly appreciate the real world of choices and expectations consumers have on what and where they spend their money and why they act the way they... more »

May 2015

Loyalty Works Both Ways

Have retailers collectively lost their minds, not being able to remember who helped keep them in business through good and, more importantly, bad times? Have they forgotten that customers are thinking, rational, feeling and perceptive... more »

April 2015

A Solutions Strategy

Like many of you, especially those in the Millennial generation, I like to tinker and try to fix things on my own, without calling in professional help or taking the problem in for servicing. I... more »

January 2015

Immediate Sale, Lifetime Customer

You've heard or read these topics discussed before ... What behaviors drive consumer purchases? What sets you apart from your competition, be it the big box down the street, another locally owned garden center (LOGC)... more »

November/December 2014

Help Consumers Make Good Choices

My wife Rosemary and I just returned from an extended adventure — spending the month of September driving through England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Rosemary just retired from a career as... more »

July 2014

Less Really Is More

In a recent issue of Big Grower Bottom Line, the esteemed Tim Hodson, editorial director of GPN, Big Grower and Lawn & Garden Retailer publications, wrote a story about research performed at the National Center... more »

June 2014

Difficult to Build, Easy to Lose

Many of you have been shopping at Target for years, enjoying their cheap-chic product offerings, their creative TV ads, the quirky and innovative event marketing and their community giving programs. They built one of the... more »

May 2014

Always a Student

I'm a student, albeit a rather old one. I not only study consumers and what makes them tick (or not), but I also study industries, businesses and trends. I study the economy to try to... more »

August 2013

Brand Benefits

Dr. Charlie Hall of Texas A&M University — a good friend of mine (and our industry) and someone I've had the pleasure of working with in many different capacities — ends all of his emails... more »

April 2013

A Learning Curve (Continued)

I'm a student of retail and retail trends. I've always studied consumer behaviors and changes and attempted to predict how and when they will affect the way we do business, what consumers needs and expectations... more »