Are You Getting By or Getting Away? – Part 2

by Sid Raisch

[If you missed Part 1 of this series you can read it HERE.]

Part 2 – Get By or Get Away 
RE-setting Your Value Proposition Post COVID-19

The Train of Garden Retailing

by Danny Summers

At first glance this might appear as a strange combination. Train verses Garden Retailing? But bear with me as I share some thoughts I have had in recent months. This idea came to me as I was talking with prospective Centers who asked about what we do in The Group and why they should consider joining. Basically, "Why The Group?"

As I thought about my response, aside from all the normal unique sharing, programs and services The Group offers, strangely enough what I have told our daughter and her husband about buying their first home came to mind. We have had numerous conversations with them about how home prices keep going up and how much more difficult it might be to get into your very first home. I said, "Home ownership is like jumping onto a moving train. Once on-board you gain equity as the overall market goes up and as you pay down the mortgage. If you are not on the train, you are loosing ground, going backwards as the train moves forward."

Your BEST Ideas (or your biggest questions)

by Danny Summers

You have them... all of us do. It's the idea that comes to you late at night or in the early hours of the morning and you just have to write a few notes before it's gone. It can also come at unusual times during our daily activities. It might be while you are shopping at a frequently visited store, or in line at the drive-through restaurant, or just driving down the road – or mowing the lawn. My Dad often said some of the best thinking happens while on a tractor. Some of the most ordinary things can trigger the very BEST ideas. They can also present some of your biggest questions.

Imagination!

by Danny Summers

Kids have "wide-open" creativity skills with no throttles, governors, or constraints that most of us adults have developed. If you look closely at the photo above you will see the titles... "Thinker, Thinking Cap and Idea-O-Meter" depicting the story of how kids don't have the "I Can't" or "It Won't Work" weights holding them back. As we progress through life we encounter many "guardrails" that tend to build upon each other and restrict our creativity. In the following text I found some wonderful words written by Samuel Ullman (1840-1924), an American businessman, poet, humanitarian, and religious leader, born in Hechingen, Germany and died in Birmingham, AL. Here's an interesting introduction I found to Ullman's famous poem 'Youth.'

Are You Getting By or Getting Away? – Part 1

by Sid Raisch

With 79 years to go this may be the biggest consumer con-job of the century, and you are involved.

It’s not a joke that COVID-19 became a convenient excuse, a crisis not going to waste, a cop-out, as well as a likely inconvenient trap for companies to find themselves in. Time will tell, and time is growing short as people are adjusting to the NOT return to normal.

What's New?

by Danny Summers

That was on everyone's mind last week as we converged upon Columbus, OH for Cultivate'21... the very first industry trade show since early last year. And it was GREAT in many ways!

Good News

by Danny Summers

If you were with us last Thursday during the final GROUPtalk LIVE Series session, you heard Ken Gronbach say these words, "If you want me to tell bad news for the garden industry, I'll have to make up something, because there just isn't any." This session was a followup to his keynote presentation last August as we began our series.

Ken is a demographer and his studies analyze world populations, growth, shifts, and trends. Ken's message reinforced what our Centers have experienced the past 16 months – countless new customers, many of them young, and all wanting more gardening and plant experiences.

For the Love of Plants

by Danny Summers

The Love of Plants can be a powerful thing. It's powerful in many ways. If you consider the simple relationship we humans have with plants... we breath oxygen they give off and they need the carbon dioxide we exhale. That's about as close as a relationship gets - the very definition of symbiotic.

While you might not consider that to be a form of love, how we see people interact with plants can truly be expressed as a form of love. And, they will certainly say how much they love to garden, how they love their flowers, trees, and plants and how they love how the activity of gardening or being around all these plants makes them feel.

Building Relationships

by Danny Summers

Relationships. It is the lifeblood of a successful career or business. It spans all aspects of your operation... Your customers. Your staff and management team. Your growers and hardline vendors. Other relationships you have are here within The Group. The relationships built with The Group's team of Service Providers and your peer Centers is something that is very unique today.

The Brutal Truth of the Cost of Non-Productive Labor

by John Kennedy

One day, I stopped by a job site of a landscape client of mine. The two crew members were sitting on the client’s patio furniture taking a break (Bad Start!). One was smoking (he quickly tried to hide his poor judgement). I sat at the table with them and asked to have some" fun with numbers" (a hint of sarcasm floated over the wrought iron table…)

Simplify.

by Danny Summers

Let's face it. Things tend to get more and more complicated. Every time we add a new program or product, does it replace an existing one or just increase your the list of "things-to-do" and multiply your weekly, daily (or even hourly) challenges? With where your Center has been the last 15+ months, it's time to focus on simplifying your operation. You can begin at The Fall Event 2021.

The Group eLists - Are You Subscribed?

Your Fastest Way to Share with other Group Centers!

As a Client of The Garden Center Group, you and your staff are encouraged to become active in our eLists (i.e., e-mail listserves). Save time by starting a discussion and quickly receive responses from peer centers. These lists are not moderated to facilitate quick responses. You may subscribe to available eLists through The Group WebSystem. These eLists are exclusive services of The Garden Center Group and use is strictly limited to Garden Center Group Clients and Service Providers. Any replies to a new message are redistributed to the entire list of current eList subscribers. If you would rather send a reply only to the original sender, be sure to redirect (forward) your email reply. Once subscribed you will receive a confirmation email with instructions on how to participate.

See all the details HERE.

A Bright Future...

by Danny Summers

That's what I see ahead for Garden Retailing and the Horticulture Industry as a whole. We have several both direct and indirect evidence to support this vision for what's beyond the horizon. First, let's consider what almost every Garden Center has experienced the past 15+ months. Reports of seeing 20-25% new customers and a high percentage of them were young. And by the questions they asked, they are new to gardening. We have wondered if they would return this spring and most indicators point to YES, they have. These new plant and gardening enthusiasts are finding their own joy and passion in their garden activities. If we can continue to help them be successful and build upon this new-found relationship with plants and their garden, this may very well be the much needed bridge of transition between boomers and the next generation. These new young customers are one of the best pieces of evidence to support the vision of "A Bright Future."

Additional evidence to support a vision for "A Bright Future" can be seen in this year's nominees for Green Profit Magazine Young Retailer of the Year Award. In the December 14th edition of GROUPtalk, we announced a new Group effort to co-sponsor and promote Green Profit Magazine Young Retailer of the Year Award for 2021. The Garden Center Group, with support from our Partners for Success, are official sponsors of the 16th annual award, along with AmericanHort.

This past week, Green Profit announced the three finalists for this year's awards. They are:

Smarter. Not Harder.

by Danny Summers

Let's face it, with what you have been through the past 14 months, this should really get your attention.

The Art of Seeing the Invisible – Part 3

by Sid Raisch

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” Jonathan Swift

NOTE: Some of you are near peak of the season while others have moved on through, but all of you should be in “Management Mode”. This means you’re operating rather routinely on a daily basis at a high level of volume and personnel. The routine becomes a sort of paralysis by default where things are happening without much question, as “the way it needs to be” to get things done, or status quo. There are a few problems with this mode and reading about them will make your time here worthwhile.

Making a BIG Impression

by Tom Kegley

This Large Format Greenhouse Covering at Skinner Garden Store is a sight to behold.

When Skinner Garden Store’s Cameron Rees had the idea to utilize a blank space to connect with drivers on the 4-lane divided highway adjacent to his location, he truly decided to ‘go big or go home’!

High Terrain

by Danny Summers

You are in HIGH TERRAIN today. You are and we all know it. The image above might be a micro respite from today's hectic pace, but what I am referring to is the HIGH TERRAIN of the new levels of your Garden Center sales during the Spring of 2021. This in on top of the mountain of sales most Centers developed in 2020.

With 2020 in the rear-view mirror, we were wondering if you could even match, not to mention build upon last year's performance. Seeing Week 18 (May 3-9, 2021) results just in last Friday provides a very positive outlook for surpassing 2020. Let's compare a few figures against this time last year and now.

Rooms and Runs – Alignment 3.0

By John Kennedy

As we continue the theme of Alignment in 2021, here are a few more thoughts I would like to add to the discussion in the month of May.

Let’s consider the big three pillars of any retail shop—average transaction, number of transactions, and customer experience rating. Studies show that there is a direct correlation (read alignment) from the customer satisfaction metrics and the average transaction metrics.

How About a Refill?

by Danny Summers

The Art of Seeing the Invisible – Part 2

by Sid Raisch

“Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.” Jonathan Swift

NOTE: (This is a less than 3-minute read).