Issue date: May/June 2008        Topic: Retailer Wrap

IGC Wrap

How do you plan to make the most of the Independent Garden Center Show?
Dave Bosco, Vice President Bosco’s Garden Center & Landscaping, Simsbury, CT We’re returning to The IGC Show this year because there’s such a vast variety of offerings - we couldn’t cover it al...

        Issue date: March/April 2008        Topic: Retailer Wrap

IGC Wrap

How will the climate changes impact your operation?
Ken Andersen Vice President of Nursery Operations, Walter Andersen Nurseries, San Diego and Poway, CA Water availability will probably be more of an issue than temperature variations in our a...

        Issue date: January/February 2008        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Can independents make money selling organics?
Bob Friedl, Senior Buyer for Horticultural Products, Hicks Nurseries, Westbury, NY Organics are profitable. We’ve been ahead of the curve, doing the investigating - and often the instigating - to...

        Issue date: November/December 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Are your customers so loyal to your garden center that they wouldn’t step foot in a box store?
Jeff Iak, Plant Buyer Gray’s Garden Centers, Eugene, OR We have developed a separate glass-front building into our plant conservatory. Located next to the main garden center building at our Eugene...

        Issue date: September/October 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Are your customers so loyal to your garden center that they wouldn’t step foot in a box store?
The majority of our customers are pretty loyal, but I wouldn’t say they’d never set foot in a box store. We have approximately 10 acres of garden center, so it’s easy for shoppers to see that we have ...

        Issue date: July/August 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

What are you looking for at the IGC Show? How are you planning to make the most of it?
Kris Shepard, President Alsip Home & Nursery, Frankfort, IL We’re looking forward to the show, which is strictly for independents. We’re planning to take six or more of our key people. As an inde...

        Issue date: May/June 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Do you ask that your preferred vendors deal with you exclusively in your market?
Joe Kresl, Owner Hawks Nursery, Wauwatosa, WI As independent retailers, it is essential we focus our product lines based on our specific markets. Our request for exclusivity depends on the product...

        Issue date: March/April 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

When do you do the majority of your buying for your main categories?
Todd Brockshus, Vice President of Retail Sales, Del’s Garden Center, Spencer, IA We place most of our spring hard goods orders at the Foster’s distributor show in September, working from curren...

        Issue date: January/February 2007        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

How price-sensitive are your customers?
Jean Bragdon, Garden Center Manager, Lurvey Garden Center, Des Plaines, IL Our customers are willing to pay more if the services that fill their needs are attached to it. They can buy most plants a...

        Issue date: November/December 2006        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

What is your worst customer horror story?
Kris Shephard, President Alsip Home & Nursery, Frankfort, IL A customer returned a hanging basket he hadn’t watered for quite some time, and it was dead. We explained to him as politely as possi...

        Issue date: September/October 2006        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Are lawn and garden distributors providing the service and support you expect?
Dave Brandenburg, Manager Country Fair Garden Center, Denver, CO For the most part, our hard goods distributors are supplying the service and support we expect. We’re fortunate to have several go...

        Issue date: May/June 2006        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Are 30-somethings into gardening as much as their parents were at that age?
Bob Washburn, Co-Owner Meadow View Greenhouses & Garden Center, Lenoir City, TN Gosh, no! Their parents were big into vegetable gardening, and I don’t see that in 30-somethings today. The newer g...

        Issue date: March/April 2006        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

How do you expect the daylight-savings time extension to impact your sales?
Rick Woodley, Owner Woodley’s Garden Center, Columbia, SC We start staying open later, until 7 p.m., in April and May because of the current daylight-savings time. In 2007, with the time cha...

        Issue date: November/December 2005        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

What do you think of Target selling an exclusive line of Smith & Hawken products in its stores?
Walt Minnick, CEO SummerWinds Garden Centers, Boise, ID We’re extremely disappointed in the decision. The program was presented to us as an exclusive to independents. While we understand Scotts i...

        Issue date: September/October 2005        Topic: Retailer Wrap

Retailer Wrap

Have higher gas prices affected sales at your garden center?
Steve Bloch, President Schafer Garden Center Bellingham, MA While I can’t say that customers have commented about not coming to our store as often because of gas prices, the costs undoubtedly af...

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