The BIG Squeeze of 2022

by Danny Summers

If you were with us last Thursday for our March edition of the GROUPtalk LIVE Series, you experienced Tim Quebedeaux revealing the results from The Group's 2022 Annual P&L Study. We had a large crowd assembled for the presentation and Group Centers can see the details in the recording, now available on the 2023 GROUPtalk LIVE Series Resource page from their landing page following login.

As Tim presented each area of this year's study, I was amazed. We knew from the Weekly Department Review (WDR) that sales were down in 2022 compared to the previous year. The BIG question in most of our minds was... how much would this affect profit?

The Wellness Connection

by Danny Summers

In recent weeks I have seen more than one article expounding on the growing consumer trend of prioritizing Wellness. A quick search or simply being alert to watching messaging in almost any media and you will see this first hand.

I know there was a growing awareness or interest in Wellness prior, but I am confident the Covid era has accelerated it even more today. One such article I saw a week or so ago was from AdAge magazine where they were promoting a day-long conference called "The Wellness Revolution Conference" where they will spotlight the intersection of health and marketing. They included several major brands bringing Wellness to the forefront of their marketing campaigns in the coming months. In the same announcement, they quoted a report from McKinsey & Company from last fall. McKinsey & Company is a global business consulting (and research) firm. The title of that report was...

Be the Inspiration

by Danny Summers

The natural change of seasons can be a time of encouragement. The promise of spring brings a sense of renewal and new life. Most people have never had the experience of walking into a greenhouse in early spring. Just to see all the young plants and flowers there, waiting for the chance to be selected and to be added to a home garden is exciting... and inspirational. There are so many ways to "Be the Inspiration" in spring.

Do you expound upon the beauty, facets or character of the individual flower or plant? There are so many to talk about each week and so many great stories. Do you show how they can make you feel?

Making the Connection

By Danny Summers

While the vast majority of Super Bowl 2023 ads are now a very distant memory, I thought a few are noteworthy. That's pretty amazing when you consider the reported costs were $6-7 MILLION for a 30-second spot and there were enough of them, if you string them all together, to be over 1 hour long. So, in doing a totally non-scientific research review, here are three I want to bring back for seeing one more time.

Happiness

by Danny Summers

The search for happiness is as old as time itself. It's easy to see how some people search for their happiness in the way they spend their time, attention, and of course their money.

In last week's blog message from Sid Raisch titled SHIFTing, Sid referenced a video that Tom Kegley shared with us. It is an insightful presentation by J. Walker Smith, a marketing and futures expert with the international market research and consulting firm, Kantar. During this 34-minute presentation, Walker includes the highlights from an Oracle survey results released last July. Here's the Report headline and some noted data:

How Will You Measure Up?

by Danny Summers

The clock is ticking and every day you inch closer to the Spring Season. So much effort has already been invested in preparations, but it is natural to still be thinking...
Have we done enough?

What have we missed?

What more can we do?

We have three major programs going on within The Group that can help you answer the question... How Will You Measure Up?

Sharing the Magic!

by Danny Summers

As you create and implement your promotional plans for 2023, you have the opportunity to do so with what we have learned over the last three years... how important gardening and plants are to us (all human beings).

Actually, this journey of understanding the importance of plants, the garden, and the activity of gardening began much earlier. One important message that comes to mind was when Robert Hendrickson shared the results of a survey done to answer the fundamental question... "Why I Garden?" Robert shared that with us in 2015 and you can find the top 30 answers in The Group WebSystem by navigating to the Clients-Only menu and down to POWERtools. Just look in the first section in the Marketing area.

An Exciting Time!

by Danny Summers

Over the last two weeks, many of us have experienced two of the industry's largest events, MANTS in Baltimore (top two photos) and TPIE in Tampa (bottom two photos). If these events are any measure of where we are right now as an industry... the best way to describe it is An Exciting Time!

The level of excitement and anticipation is obvious. Both exhibit space and attendance could easily be described as Sell Outs! Interest in plants and gardening at retail is at an all-time high and with young consumers continuing to become homeowners and continuing their "plant-parenthood" practice these trends look to only increase in coming seasons.

A Wild Ride!

by Danny Summers

At first glance you could easily think I am referring to a vacation experience in a recent memory. For Karen and I, this could harken us back to several things.

One is our first visit to Walt Disney World and the chance to ride on Space Mountain. If you have never had this experience the easiest way for me to describe it is... A Roller Coast in the Dark! Or, as Disney would want to describe it.. a rocket ship in space avoiding meteorites! For Karen, the description is much shorter... just simply...

Designing the Customer Experience

by Danny Summers

Here's an important question... Are you Designing Your Customer's Experience?

Hitting Your Target... in 2023!

by Danny Summers

As we welcome the New Year of 2023, it's the perfect time to spend as much time as possible thinking about your plans and goals for the season ahead for Hitting Your Target! I know you have done a considerable amount of planning already. Your overall budget may be in place. You have placed (or about to place) many of your spring orders for plants and products that will begin arriving in the coming weeks.

You may still be working on your weekly promotional plans. Many Group Centers plan for specific plants or products to promote as well as what systems you will use to share details with your audience.

Come Together

by Danny Summers

When I consider this title, it really could represent the purpose and core mission of The Garden Center Group. We come together in so many ways. Just the practice of sharing peer-to-peer or through our team of service providers, coming together is at the core of what we do. The idea for this message brings to mind the saying, "No man is an island unto itself." This is a portion of a poem written in 1624, by English poet John Donne.

The premise that we are better when we share and come together is arguably at the foundation of The Garden Center Group. Each Group Center is unique but the sharing of ideas, concepts, resources, and of course business data, all provide for the ability of each Center to apply what is learned and ultimately be better than before.

Your Work as a Craft

by Danny Summers

Have you ever thought of your work as a craft? Not craft as a hobby, but as a craftsman. I often refer to our industry as having some of the most wonderful people and how there is something very special about people who grow or sell plants.

Horticulture, much like farming, has great assets in the people. For us, it is the people who call Nursery, Garden Centers and Landscaping home.

New Year = New Opportunities

by Danny Summers

We have some big news as we look forward to the 2023 new year. If you have been reading recent GROUPtalks, I hope you have read about our Weekly Department Review (WDR) program going online, beginning Week 1 of 2023.

Participating Group Centers will access the WDR through our WebSystem, both for uploading their data and seeing weekly reporting when complete. (If you need help logging in please let me know.)

Dust Off Your Image

by Danny Summers

The new year is just around the corner and I know you are already knee-deep in planning for it. Here are a few things to consider adding to your list in preparation for Spring 2023...

How's Your Center's Image?

Just Imagine...

by Danny Summers

Imagination is a wonderful gift that we all have. I believe we all have the same level of imagination when we are born. You can see so much of this gift in the eyes of children. I see this in our grandchildren's eyes now. You may remember a photo I shared a little over a year ago of our oldest grandson when he was just about 3 and he stood in front of Georgia Aquarium's largest tank, Ocean Voyager.

Here's the photo I shared then. Try to imagine what this 3-year-old was thinking at the time.

Health + Time

by Danny Summers

To continue on the message from last week – A Recipe for What Matters (or we might say What Matters Most), I included a tease of sorts on some thoughts for additional ideas...

Health and Time.

A Recipe for What Matters

by Danny Summers

Each of us sees numerous ads every day. They come at us from all directions and it seems to only increase in methods of how or where we see them. Certainly, TV, radio, internet, and of course every social media page we interact with is pushing products. Even some gas stations are pushing ads at the pump. Most are very promotional and the worse ones seem like they were designed by ex-used car salesmen (no offense if you have friends or family in that tough business). But you know what I mean. It's all about price and how low they can go.

If you have been in The Group any length of time, you know we began early on hearing from The Group founder, Robert Hendrickson, how you should focus on a different type of message – telling a story. One that connects with the audience, and speaks to their needs or interests in a real and caring way all while sharing the enjoyment and benefits of the garden and gardening activity. Robert would challenge us to think... if you come across as just selling something, you are most likely on the wrong path. This is a great time to quote a famous person from Hannibal Missouri (where Robert and Wendy now live)...

Preparing for 2023

by Danny Summers

There's been quite a bit of conversation recently in our eLists on preparing for 2023 and in particular the budgeting process. There's a lot to be considered for sure. And 2023 is certainly not the typical "new year" to consider. But even in a typical "new year" there is a lot to consider.

Not only do you have the typical budget considerations you will see in The Group's Chart of Accounts... What should you budget for Sales (by category)? How're Margins going to be tracked? What do you see in changes to Operating Expenses for next year? And what should you project for Wage & Wage Benefits?

Plant Talk

by Danny Summers

We can take this conversation in so many directions. A very important one is how attached countless new "Plant Parents" are to their new plant-family additions. It doesn't take long when browsing social platforms to see this in full display. In fact, the photo above (minus my title "Plant Talk" added) was found on a blogger's page with the title "DIY - Speech Bubbles for Your Plants" as she shows you how to make your own conversational signs. She related it to having reminders of how a plant needs certain care in order to thrive. Doing a simple search like "Plant Talk" will quickly yield a huge number of discussions like "How to Talk to Your Plants" or even "Is it Normal to Talk to your Pets and Plants?"