Aug 22, 2018
GCA Announces 12 Garden Center Bathroom Winners

Twelve indies are being recognized for their outstanding restrooms with GCA Best Garden Center Bathroom Awards. A panel judged this year’s entries on the bathrooms’ creativity and comfort to the customer’s overall shopping experience. Three Gold Winners will enjoy one free registration each to the 2019 GCA Summer Tour and a plaque for display in-store to tout the award to customers. Other recognitions this year include two Silver Awards and seven Merit Awards.

“We were really glad to see so many strong entries this year,” says GCA Executive Director Jeff Morey. “IGC retailers are raising the bar when it comes to creating a memorable— and enjoyable — shopping experience all the way through, from the time their customers walk in to when they check out. It’s paying off in customer loyalty.”

The 2018 GCA Best Bathroom Award Winners are:

Gold Awards

DeWayne’s, Selma, North Carolina – Last year wrapped a two-year renovation of the garden center’s gift shop and parking lot, and marked the grand opening of its new state-of-the-art greenhouse, “The Atrium.” In the back corner of the greenhouse, humor points the way to the restrooms with a sign that reads, “Men to the left, because women are always right.” A quaint seating area welcomes customers into the cozy space, which showcases a collage of images that represent the garden center’s history since its start in 1991. Creative design accents and natural elements hand-painted by a local artist on the walls and stall doors – florals in the women’s room and woody landscapes in the men’s — bring a level of custom sophistication to the bathrooms. Cleanliness is a top priority here — staff members keep on top of it multiple times a day. Customers rave about these restrooms, sharing selfies of the facilities on social media.

Garden*Hood — Plant Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia — This IGC takes the utmost pride in all they do, from hand-watering each plant to carefully curating everything that comes into the shop. This passion for excellence extends to every corner of the nursery, including the restroom. The property, located at the edge of the city’s Grant Park neighborhood, is home to an old house, which appears charming on the outside but “airs more on the spooky side” inside, Assistant Nursery Manager Sam Nash says, since the interior has been stripped down to the studs of the structure. Herein lies the bathroom. As customers walk down the creaky old hallway to what looks and feels like a haunted place, they are pleasantly surprised by the bathroom, which invokes the tranquility of a private villa in Costa Rica. The calm remains unbothered by the hustle and bustle of the city outside. Potted plants and repurposed props transform the rustic structure into a serene oasis for customers. Perhaps most surprising of all – this bathroom redo was completed on a zero-dollar budget.

The Gardens at the Ridge, Kerrville, Texas — Nestled under the garden center’s one-of-a-kind, hand-hewn cedar staircase, the facility’s unusual elements and craftmanship make this bathroom, as Marketing Director Emily Cain describes it, “a fun place to tinkle.” The glass block window allows natural light in to illuminate the artistic elements selected to represent the Texas hill country. The bathroom’s pancake wood wall is a mosaic of small slabs of leftover cedar ends from posts used elsewhere on the property. Other walls are adorned with wood from an old barn and artwork of farm animals. Granite countertops and a copper sink tie in to the rustic theme of the bathroom. Vintage floral tin tiles on the ceiling, hand-painted by a local artist, are spotlighted by old-school gooseneck farm lights over the sink, turned upward. This facility is a true show-stopper – employees overhear customers talking about it to their friends as they shop the store.

Silver Awards