It's Time for Tropicals!

It's Time for Tropicals!

by Danny Summers

This time of year there is one category that stands out above all others. It's tropicals!

It's easy to understand why this expected pattern is an annual occurrence. It's wintertime and unless you are located in the very southern parts of the country, most likely being indoors is your best option (and best for your plants that are growing and not in winter dormancy).

We all have seen interest in the Tropical Plants category increasing over the past years. It was the area we first saw younger customers showing interest and has been the catalyst for many of them to begin to nurture their "green thumbs."

Last Friday we received Week 1 of the Weekly Department Reviews and the Tropical Plants Indoor/Out captured the top category at 26% of total sales. Granted, this is a slow week as compared to spring months but it does illustrate its increasing importance overall. Tim Quebedeaux reports our Special Year-End WDR just being released indicates this category finished the 2021 year at 7% of total sales. That's a full percent above 2020.

This week is a very important one for this category as the only show in North America devoted to Tropical Plants begins this Wednesday. TPIE 2022 opens for the first time in Tampa (it's been in Fort Lauderdale for decades) and after being canceled last year like most events in the winter of 2020-2021, this year it could be a near-record attendance.

We have a larger than normal number of retailers signed up for the Cool Product Awards judging on Wednesday and have a great group signed up to see Kerby's Nursery on our Group Tour tomorrow. Overall, I am also expecting a record number of nominations for this year's Cool Product Awards. Let's face it, finding new products over the past 2 years in the virtual world has been very difficult. This illustrates how important it is to have in-person events for buying plants and related products.

We will be recapping the Cool Product Awards in the next week here in GROUPtalk so be sure to watch for them. Of course, if you are one of our Cool Product Awards Judges, you will already have all the details (including the full list of nominated products – not just the winners).

I am excited to see so many of you this week in beautiful Tampa, Florida!

Sharing is at the heart of The Group and your ideas are very important. If you have any trouble logging into The Group WebSystem, please let me know. Are you and your staff all subscribed to our eLists such as GroupEs, Retail-Grower, Retail-Landscape, Owners-Only, and a number of others such as TROPICALS? Need help subscribing? Let me know so I can show you how you can sign up.
Thanks for sharing!

Danny Summers
[email protected]
Tel: 678-909-7770
Cell: 678-761-7145

REMEMBER: Your interaction (by phone and email) with Group Service Providers such as Tim Quebedeaux, Steve Bailey, Sid Raisch, John Kennedy, Jean Seawright, and of course Danny Summers are included in your retainer!

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