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A winning team

Kudos to Master Nursery Garden Centers for a business plan that mutually benefits not only the party of the first party and the party of the second party, but the party thrower, to boot. Indeed, for roughly five decades, the multi-million dollar, member-owned nursery cooperative has served member growers and retailers well. In turn, the customer has become the ultimate winner.

To wit: Master Nursery Garden Centers’ Garden Elements program, which is an exclusive brand of premium annual s grown and sold by MNGC partners. Garden Elements was begun on the East Coast in 2007 with one grower supplying 27 garden centers. By 2008, there were four growers and 92 retail outlets in the program. In 2009, Master Nursery anticipates that well over 100 of its member garden centers will participate, served by seven growers. The Garden Elements program features both individual plants and dramatic combination baskets and planters. Each year, new varieties are introduced.

Part of what has made Garden Elements work is the partnership concept between grower and retailer. While there are other branded annual programs, Garden Elements is unique in that it is owned by the garden centers that sell it. The cooperative program puts the retailers in good stead with the customers, who love the quality and variety of the exclusive plants. In the meantime, growers benefit from the partnership because they can pre-book a large block of sales, knowing they are growing just what the retailers want.

In business parlance, that’s called win-win …

… win.

-- Yale

The growing signs of success

Drue Townsend is senior vice president of marketing for FASTSIGNS International Inc. Today she offers some insight on creating effective signs.

Companies from major corporations to small individually-owned businesses are trying to create attention for their products and services by using every media available. With all the competition for consumers’ attention, how does a company stand out? Signage has proved to be one of the best uses of a company’s advertising dollars and helps even the smallest business gain attention.

Signs and graphics have three general purposes: to inform, direct and sell. The initial impression a person has about a business is often through the signage that it utilizes. Many consumer stops are made on impulse, partly prompted by a business’ sign and how well it reinforces what the consumer may or may not already know about the business.

Technology is constantly evolving and new products are being introduced to the sign and graphics market. There are advances to increase production speed, create a more lifelike and full-color realistic product representation and provide a variety of placement opportunities to sign buyers.

Novalis expands grower network

The Novalis consortium added 7 companies to grow for the Novalis Plants That Work by Color program: Armstrong Growers, Beds & Borders Inc., Carolina Nurseries, Peace Tree Farms, Sunbelt Greenhouses, Tanasacre Nursery and Wenke Greenhouses.

Also, Bailey Nurseries is now part of the program. It will grow shrub and perennial selections as well as offering breeding. The first plant from Bailey is Diervilla sessilifolia Cool Splash, which will be available in 2009-2010.

-- Sarah

Carrying the brand heavyweights

During GCA’s Summer Tour last month, a retailer posed the following questions on the bus: Do you carry the national fertilizer/pest control brands? Are your prices similar to what the big boxes offer?

The responses fell into one of three camps:
* Yes we carry them, and prices are comparable to big boxes.
* Yes we carry them, but price according to our own standards.
* No, we don’t offer them.

Garden centers on my bus that ditched the big brands expressed no regrets. Several retailers said this move helped them differentiate themselves.

I’m glad the strategy is working for them. But it’s a risky move, in my book. The big boys have invested millions of dollars in high visibility marketing campaigns and their products are instantly recognizable.

For novice gardeners, these brands are probably the only lawn and garden products they’ve ever heard of -- and the only ones they feel comfortable asking for. Before coming into your store, they may even have visited the company’s Web site to do some research. At the very least, they’ve already been thoroughly influenced by the thousands of ads they’ve been peppered with.

These folks are coming into your store expecting you to have the latest and greatest formulation of this national product. It’s what everybody is talking about, after all. Tell them you’re not carrying it, and you’ll find a lot of customers heading to the big box down the street.

I say, stock the stuff and price it however you want. If a consumer is intent on purchasing that one product, chances are they’ll buy it and be on their way. You don’t lose a sale, and you’ve solidified your reputation as a gardening resource.

If you get really lucky, the customer will run into your top salesperson who will show them the national brands and also direct them to your other quality products (that offer much better margins for you).

Hey, we can dream, can’t we?

-- Sarah