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Dressed for success - Apparel

This go-round, we focus on material things — literally. The way I figure it, there are two types of customers who will benefit from the fact that you carry apparel in your store: the person who wants to look like a gardener and the person who actually gets her fingernails dirty. That makes apparel appealing from a shop owner's perspective, because odds are good that the people who visit — as well as those who frequent — your garden center fall into one category or the other. Then there's the lovely Mrs. Youngblood, who can garden with the best of them AND who thinks garden-themed attire is fashion-riffic even when she trades fingernail dirt for fingernail polish (Cajun Shrimp is one HOT color, by the by!). If you've searched for sources for practical attire, you've likely discovered Sloggers, which is the apparel brand from Principle Plastics, a company that started 55 years ago as a manufacturer of gardening shoes. The product lines have grown over the decades to include hats, vests, shirts, pants, aprons and even "the like." Speaking of like, the aforementioned Mrs. Y has a particular fondness for the shirts from The Mountain. The company specializes in T-shirts with nature themes and offers hundreds of designs that range from remarkably realistic to whimsical. For a good look at "what's out there," we recommend the consumer-focused site, PriceGrabber.com. Here you can see comparative prices for apparel products of all sorts, as well as read reviews from customers who have purchased product. Hopefully, people have purchased product of the apparel ilk from you.

Plants go high-tech

For all the good you do doing good for others, if you don't sell quality plants, the odds are against your store becoming the garden center of choice in your region. Whether you specialize in trees, shrubs, exotics, natives, annuals, perennials or the proverbial "other," the plants you peddle serve as the barometer by which your store is measured. And make no mistake: your store is measured, sometimes against odds that are completely beyond your control — see unpredictable weather, big bad boxes that will see your tag and lower it a buck, and gas prices that go only one direction. Of all the choices you do make, your plan for plants is a business maker/breaker.

Fortunately, technology has dealt you a decent hand in recent years. Web sites such as PlantFind were created to link buyers and sellers, as well as to make the transaction and delivery processes as quick and painless as possible. Rarely have the words "point and click" meant so much to your bottom line. Another recent trend, the partnering of plant producers, maintainers and marketers, can serve you well. Not only do you get the plant, you get a variety of products designed to help you market it. Locations such as Proven Winners' Color Choice site show new "hot" shrubs and the like, as well as how easy it is to sell them. Of course, the internet gives you many options, some as simple as doing a Google search for "new plants." I did that and immediately discovered the New Plant Page, which is a resource for new and rare ornamental plants provided by the New Ornamental Society. Given the obstacles you face — only some of which were mentioned previously — you can see how important it is to select, maintain, and sell the best plants. Thankfully, today's garden center operators have help at their fingertips — literally.