Weed at Work

New marijuana laws raise vexing questions for employers.

Let’s be blunt: Like it or not, pot is here to stay. The November election proved this to be true. To date, 28 states, the District of Columbia, and Guam have legalized medical marijuana use. Nine of these have also legalized recreational use of the drug.

Support for marijuana legalization has clearly outpaced the opposition and, in light of new state laws and regulations that permit marijuana use, many employers are uncertain how far they can go and how far they should go when it comes to adopting or enforcing drug-free workplace policies and drug testing.

 

Pricing for Fun and Profit

"Danny said that a pricing tactic I shared in this webinar "is the most important part everyone needs to hear". While it is true that this tactic is important, I feel that the most important thing that was shared is the strategies required to set prices responsibly and professionally. 100% of your profit comes directly from the prices you charge. If you'd like (or need) stronger profits now and into the future then listen to this webinar to learn the strategies and tactics to become a Pricing Professional."

 

2017 Weekly Department Review... and More!

by Steve Bailey

The Garden Center Group prides itself on sharing information. Rightfully so, with the various GroupEs available, Fall Event, and the other activities that promote Owners and Managers communicating with each other.

Nothing typifies this more than the Weekly Department Review (WDR). The weekly sharing of numbers is a source of wonderment when I tell other traveling consultants about it. They can't believe any group or retail segment is as sharing as this one. Plus, they are envious.

 2017: Psychological Pricing for Perceived Value

It is Time for the Death of Discounts.

Some of you are irritated with me already. But if you hang in there we may come together on the idea.

Let's start by looking at why our culture encourages retailers to discount so much in the first place.

Will Yours Become One of The Last Garden Centers?

Budgeting Made $imple

by Steve Bailey

 

In this post-recession era, where "wants-based" spending has been rapidly returning to our economy, now more than ever garden centers should be investing in my word of the year for 2016--alignment.

We received information in the last week about a fun new book of children's poems themed around garden called "The Gnome in My Garden." It was some creative we asked its author, Michael McCormick, to tell us their story. Here's the details…

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We started Goofy Garden with the hopes of creating a fun, engaging book that kids and adults could enjoy together. Our goal is to create a series of books, and eventually a series of products, that ignites a sense of creativity and wonder when it comes to gardening and getting outdoors.

We want to extend a big Group Welcome to John Kennedy, our newest addition to our Service Providers. John is an international strategist, author and speaker driving cultural shift and change within businesses and associations in our green industry. He has worked with some our Clients already - Dambly's Garden Center, Ray Wiegand's Garden Center, and Rockledge Gardens, as well as scores of others throughout the world. Welcome John! Here's John's first "share" here in GROUPtalk...

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Family Owned...Passion Grown ... Savor the Stress!

Our green industry is ripe with family-based businesses. Insights and ideas that have been passed down through the vines linking one generation to the next become the new innovations of our industry for the future.

The Garden Center Group Clients:

On Tuesday, March 15, the Department of Labor (DOL) took the final step in the rulemaking process by advancing the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)  (commonly referred to as the "Overtime Rule") to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review of the final changes.

Last June, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) setting forth its rationale for a new and higher salary test for employees classified as exempt from overtime under the White Collar Exemptions covering executive, administrative, and professional employees. The DOL proposed a new guaranteed salary level of $50,440 per year------- an increase of 113% over the current $23,660 salary level. (For details about this proposed change and others in the NPRM, refer to our July 2015 e-bulletin.)

Since March 2014, when President Obama issued his directive to the Secretary of Labor to "modernize the overtime rules," it has been widely anticipated that the Final Rule would be effective prior to the 2016 elections. Why? Because of the potential for a Republican President to be elected who, by all accounts, would likely direct the DOL to delay the release of the Final Rule or revoke it altogether. Proponents of the overtime changes know that the sooner the changes take effect, the harder it will be to overturn them.

Although the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 65 percent of all workers currently receive paid sick leave benefits, across the nation there have been a proliferation of ordinances and laws that require private employers, including small businesses, to provide paid sick leave to employees.

Advocates cite statistics related to increased productivity, reduced turnover, lower rates of occupational injuries, and other workplace and societal benefits that they believe create an urgent need for paid sick leave. In addition, based on statistics showing an increase in domestic violence, supporters of these laws are proposing to include paid "safe days" for employees in need of time off to address domestic or sexual violence matters.

Integrate Your Marketing Communications for More Impact

by Tom Kegley

 

With so many ways to reach out to your customers– advertising, email, direct mail, in-store signage, events, social media, and more– it’s easy for your marketing communications to become diluted or disjointed. In today’s ocean of messaging, the isolated message gets lost.
 
No Message is an Island is a macro communications approach for today’s media. If you identify your big message, weave it into every channel you use to speak to your customers, and coordinate the execution, your marketing becomes so much more effective. Whether your campaign is for a weekend, a season, or the entire year, make it stronger by connecting your islands of messages into one giant continent.
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Learn why and how No Message is an Island in 7 minutes in Tom’s moving online presentation.

 

As the time winds down for reporting to the 2015 P&L Study (there might still be time to report, call me!), my phone goes into overtime. Questions relating to reporting, especially from new garden centers in The Group, come in at an ever-increasing rate as the deadline approaches.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad everyone is calling! Clarifying what goes where in the data is the key to valid data in the report you receive back. Since the P&L Study began over ten years ago, the report has become an industry standard due to the time, effort, and accuracy participants have contributed to the effort.

When The Group was in Orlando for The Fall Event, some of us stayed over to see The Landscape Show. While we were there, Dr. Tom Yeager of The University of Florida's Horticulture Department, introduced us to Dr. Charlie Guy, Professor of Plant Physiology and Biochemistry at UF and showed us details of a new study underway between the UF's Hort Department and the UF Medical School. Here's some details:

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A group of Florida researchers has found a link between gardening and good mental health.  Scientists at the University of Florida studied 23 healthy women and preliminary findings show the women who participated in group gardening activities twice a week reported profoundly reduced stress, anxiety, anger, confusion and fatigue.  The women also reported significantly more vigor and friendliness than the women in the control group.

Friends...You probably know a lot about pricing. After all, you have many years’ experience doing just that. Think about this: pricing the way you know how is worth little more than one year of experience repeated over and over. You’ve probably heard the phrase that 

“it ain’t braggin’ if it's true."