July 2018

Breathe New Life

I’d be remiss not to start my note this month with the obvious. Hopefully you noticed a large change to the cover of the magazine: a new logo. As you flip through the pages of this issue, yo... more

Creating Advocates

Does your garden center have an ambassador marketing program? Enlisting advocates for your business can really help you grow your profits.

Upstate New York’s Finest IGCs

A spring trip to garden centers in the Buffalo, Rochester and Syracuse areas impressed with numerous ideas you can implement in your own operation.

Good Websites Have a Goal

Jump into improving your site with specific and measurable objectives.

Show Stopping Newcomers

With hundreds of new varieties making their official debut at the 2018 California Spring Trials, it can be overwhelming to evaluate them all. That’s why we put together a list of some of our favorites that deserve your attention.

Is It Possible to Charm and Satisfy Every Customer? Would You Really Want To?

We've all been there, we've all experienced it if you have ever worked retail, or in a restaurant, or in any service situation for that matter: There’s simply no pleasing certain people. We all know... more

You Didn’t Ask Me, but … !

This month I decided I had a few random thoughts that I wanted to share with you. Although they do not all fit into the same category, they are all important for the way you do business. Retail... more

Saying ‘I Do’ at the Garden Center

Blumen Gardens in Sycamore, Illinois, started using its garden center, grounds and “garden room” — an 1860s factory warehouse — for weddings in 2005, and they haven’t looked back since then. Owner Joel Barczak explains how and why weddings work for them.