It’s Mother’s Day week. It’s crazy and hopefully extra-busy at your store. I know what you’ll be thinking after the holiday weekend is behind you: “I gotta get away!” So here’s an idea: Register for American Nursery & Landscape Association’s Retail Roadshow, June 15-18. They’ll be touring some of the most fantastic garden centers in the Mid-Atlantic. Don’t wait too long. Early Bird registration ends Friday, May 15. I’ll see you there.
The folks at ANLA were kind enough to share this behind-the-scenes take on some of the destinations for this year’s tour. You can see the complete list of stops here. In the meantime, check out the “first impressions” related below.
-- Sarah
Last week ANLA’s staff hit the road with 2009 Retail Roadshow co-chairs Tom Hebel of Bucks Country Gardens and Gary Blondell of Gary’s Gardens to do a dry run of the tour. On the phone with Gary last night, he mentioned how important it is for a garden center to really know their market and their strengths – in other words, their brand.
We have all heard about Terrain at Styer’s at this point, and anyone who has been there has definitely been socked right between the eyeballs with solid, consistent branding. They reflect the Gen X + Y focus of their parent companies, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie with an eclectic mix of merchandise, a focus on the community and plenty of “green” products. You could be dropped, blindfolded, anywhere on that site and know immediately that you were at Terrain.
Gasper Home and Garden Showplace blew Gary away. A second division for a well-established landscape business, Gasper’s really reflects its landscape history. “There was stuff that the average garden center just can’t afford to do,” said Gary. He described the great artistry in the stonework featured on site, and the engineering of potting benches that were perfectly level despite being built up against a hill.
Gateway Garden Center is the garden center connected with Steve Castorani’s, North Creek Nurseries, and managed by Steve’s wife Peg. Gary described Gateway as a true plantsman’s nursery with a well organized, extensive collection of plants reflecting North Creek’s specialization in native plants. Gateway has reached out to a likely core-customer base by partnering with two local not-for-profit organizations. The Delaware Nature Society and the Delaware Center for Horticulture (DCH) both embrace native plants and habitat creation. Gateway offers a 10 percent member discount on plants throughout the season. They also host an annual Water Garden Tour and donate the proceeds to the DCH.
All three businesses have taken the advice of Ernest Wertheim, a sage for many in the garden center community. Last year Ernest shared, “Your business is unique to your market. Know your customers well and base your business on their specific needs and desires.”
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